


Blood for Answers

by RegalGirl94



Series: Blood [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-28 20:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 69,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17793815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RegalGirl94/pseuds/RegalGirl94
Summary: Jessie and her friends are faced with another string of mysterious deaths. The deeper she delves into the mystery of them and herself, the more questions she finds. While slowly losing control, she finds herself stuck in the middle of all the people she cares about, torn to make a decision while she watches herself slowly turn into something she isn't.





	1. Hunting Party

**Author's Note:**

> Second in the Blood series.  
> Here is the teaser;  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HysuKLM3VoY

JESSIE'S POV

It's been a week since the dance where everything may have changed. And I had to pretend it didn't because this Friday after school was also the day that my brother was coming home to move to Beacon Hills.

"Baako!" I shouted, running downstairs to throw my arms around him.

He laughed in his deep voice, "Hey Jessie girl."

I kissed his cheek, "I'm so glad you're here – a lot has happened."

"You can fill me in," He smiled down at me as we sat down to dinner.

* * *

After dinner and watching Horrible Bosses we all went to bed. I was up reading my great great grandmother Amalie's journal when I heard my phone vibrate on my nightstand.

_I know it's late but I'm outside. Can I come in?_

It was from Isaac. My brow furrowed and I padded my way downstairs in pajama shorts and a thermal shirt. I opened the front door to see my ragged and beat looking boyfriend there. He had another black eye and was holding his side like he'd been punched there too. I gasped and immediately pulled him into the house, "What happened?"

"He got drunk," Isaac groaned.

I pulled up his shirt to see a purple bruise forming around his rib cage. "Oh my god—Isaac we should get you to the hospital."

"No, it's okay," He protested, "They're not broken, trust me."

I shook my head clear of my jumbled thoughts and tugged his hand to follow me upstairs. We crept up to my bedroom and I told him to take off his shirt. He did so and I got some swabs and antiseptic to clean a small cut under the bruise on his side. He hissed at the contact and I kissed his bare shoulder. "Okay, why don't you lie down and rest?"

He obeyed and I got out some of Baako's old sweats, "Slip these on to sleep in. I'm gonna leave a text for my mom so they don't freak out finding you in my bed. Is that okay?"

He gingerly took the sweats from my hands, "I guess so. I'm sorry to come over so late," he sighed, "I just—I just didn't have anywhere else to go..."

"Isaac, stop," I whispered, holding his face in my hands, "You don't have to explain yourself. You're always welcome here. I have half a mind never to let you go back."

Isaac sighed and kissed my forehead, wrapping his arms around my shoulders, "I have to—he's my dad."

I wanted to argue, but I was just too exhausted tonight. "Go change and we'll go to bed."

He went into my bathroom to change. When he came back out he laid down on my bed and I sat next him, watching him try to get comfortable but wincing in pain when his side hit the wall. Tears built in my eyes and overflowed down my cheeks. I hated seeing him so beat up. I laid my head in my hands, trying to hide my crying. I could feel the bed move as Isaac sat up and put an arm around my waist, trying to get me to look at him. "Jessie—Jessie, look at me."

I shook my head, "Why do you stay? Why don't you do anything?" I looked sideways to him, "I hate seeing you like this. I wish you'd... I don't know what I wish."

"You wish I'd fight back," Isaac spoke into my shoulder.

"I wish you'd do something," I whispered, "Anything."

"Don't worry about me, please," He pleaded, kissing the side of my head. He leaned in to kiss me on the lips and I let him. The kiss turned french as we got heated. I ran my hands up and down his chest and back as he cupped my head and tangled his fingers in my hair, pulling me closer. We fell on his back and I carefully crawled over him, straddling him. He groaned into my mouth when our hips pressed together and trailed his lips across my jaw.

I sat up and stripped my thermal off, not realizing that I was bra-less until Isaac's mouth dropped open. I blushed and laid back down over him, pressing our chests together and crashing my lips to his. I dragged my lips to his neck, kissing down his chest, being extra careful around his bruise.

His hand trailed up my side until it brushed my right breast. He got a little shy, wondering if he went to far, so I grabbed his hand and pressed it on my chest, "You're okay." He smiled into the kiss and started kneading me softly, kissing down my neck and sucking, most likely leaving a mark.

I moaned when he leaned down to lock his mouth over my nipple and tugged on his hair, making him groan. I laughed softly and shushed him, "We have to be quiet..."

He smirked and went back to what he was doing. My breath was starting to come in pants but I held myself together, rocking my hips into his. He moaned and sat up, bringing my legs to wrap around him and pulling me impossibly closer. But then he suddenly hissed in pain when my hand hit his bruise. I gasped and pulled back, "I'm sorry—I'm sorry!"

He shook his head and laid down, "It's okay, I'm fine."

I sighed and got up off of him to go and slip my shirt back on. I laid down next to him and pulled the covers over us, "Maybe we should wait until you're healed." He nodded and kissed my forehead. I looked up at his face, focusing on his black eye. I slowly cupped his face with one hand and whispered, "I love you."

"I love you too," He said back and kissed me. And we laid there side by side, facing each other, kissing until we fell asleep.

* * *

The next night Isaac had work. He had to dig Kate Argent's grave before her funeral tomorrow afternoon. I didn't want him to go because I knew he'd go back home afterward but I couldn't really stop him.

I'm not sure what time it was when I heard it. But I knew it was dark so it must have been late. I heard a sonic like scream rip through the night. It was obvious I wasn't supposed to hear it, but I did. And I knew something was wrong.

I didn't get much time to dwell on that though before Scott drove up to the house in Stiles' jeep. I saw him out my window and ran down the stairs to walk outside, "What's going on?"

"I heard Lydia scream. Stiles said she disappeared from the hospital and is running around naked," He explained as I got in the car and he drove off.

* * *

"This is the one she was just wearing?" Scott asked as Stiles handed him a paper gown with blood stained on it, "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her. Not again."

Stiles sighed, "All right, just shove the thing in your face and let's find her." He started the car and jolted when he saw Allison in front, "Wow."

"What are you doing here?" Scott asked her, "Someone's gonna see us."

"I don't care—she's my best friend, and we need to find her before they do," Allison said.

"Your dad's after her, isn't he?" I asked.

She solemnly nodded, "I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in two SUVs."

"It's a hunting party," I groaned, "They think she's a werewolf."

"But she's not," Stiles whined, "Her bite didn't heal."

"She's immune – but they don't know that," I said.

Scott told Allison to get in and then we drove off. "Where's Isaac?"

"He's at work," I answered quietly, noticing Allison's face drop. She knew Isaac worked at the graveyard and knew what he must be doing now.

* * *

"All right, if she was turning, would they actually kill her?" Stiles asked Allison as Scott stuck his head out the window to try and track Lydia's scent.

"I don't know," She sighed, "They won't tell me anything, okay? All they say is, 'We'll talk after Kate's funeral, when the others get here.'"

"What others?" I asked.

"I don't know," she answered frustratedly, "They won't tell me that yet."

"Okay, your family's got some serious communication issues to work on," Stiles snapped, "Scott, are we going the right way?"

"Take the next right!"

* * *

We followed Scott who followed the scent all the way to the Hale house.

"She came here?" Stiles asked, surprised, "You sure?"

"Lydia's never been here before though," I murmured, looking at Allison for confirmation, "Right?"

"She's never been here with me," She answered me, "Maybe she came here on instinct, like she was looking for Derek."

"Wolves seek an Alpha," I stated, "It's instinct for them to form a pack so they are stronger."

"Like strength in numbers," Allison guessed.

"No," Scott started, "Like—like stronger, faster, better in every way."

"So Derek might collect power by gaining more pack members," I elaborated, "Starting with Lydia."

"Whoa, hey, look at this," Stiles called our attention to where he was crouching next to a tree, looking at the ground. Allison and I stood behind him as he ran his fingers over a thin wire, "You see this? I think it's a tripwire."

"No, wait-" But my effort to stop Stiles from pulling on the wire was in vain and he did. We heard Scott grunt behind us and turned to see him hanging upside down.

"Stiles..." Scott groaned, "Next time you see a tripwire—don't trip it."

"Yeah, noted," Stiles nodded sheepishly.

Allison and Stiles went to get him down but he waved his hands to stop them, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Someone's coming. Hide. Go!"

We ducked for cover as Chris and three others walked up to Scott. "Scott."

"Mr. Argent."

"How are you doing?" Chris asked in a forced civil tone.

"Good. You know, just hangin' out," Oh, Scott that was lame, "Is this one of yours? It's, uh, good. Nice design. Very constricting."

"What are you doing out here, Scott?" Chris asked sternly.

Scott hesitated, growing somber, "Looking for my friend."

"Ah, that's right," Chris muttered, "Lydia's in your group now, isn't she? Part of the clique? Is that the word you use? Or is there another way to put it?... Part of your pack?"

"Actually, clique sounds about right to me," Scott answered smartly.

"I hope so," Chris said, "'Cause I know she's a friend of Allison's, and one special circumstance, such as yourself—one, I can handle. Not two." He mulled over something and then asked, "Scott, do you know what a hemicorporectony is?"

"I have a feeling I don't want to."

"A medical term for amputating somebody at the waist," Chris explained malevolently, "Cutting them in half. Takes a tremendous amount of strength to cut through tissue and bone like that. Let's hope a demonstration never becomes necessary."

He stood to his full height with that last speech and walked off with his henchmen marching behind him. Allison ran up to Scott, "Are you okay?"

"Just another life-threatening conversation with your dad," Scott muttered lightly.

Stiles attempted to get Scott down when the werewolf extended his nails and cut the wire. He started to walk off toward the house before turning and smirking at us, "Comin?"

* * *

THIRD PERSON POV

"It's Lahey. Isaac Lahey," Isaac told Sheriff Stilinski in the graveyard after the attack.

The police man wrote it down and went on with the questions, "You work for your father, Isaac?"

"When he's not in school," Mr. Lahey answered for him, "Which is where he needs to be in 20 minutes."

"Yeah, I understand that," Sheriff Stilinski told the other father, "But I've got a missing teenage girl, and our k-9 unit led us here. She's not wearing any clothes," while he was speaking Isaac's eyes trailed to the woods and he saw Derek Hale standing there, just watching, "and if she's out here tonight, and the temperature really drops-" Sheriff noticed Isaac staring at something and look behind him, to see nothing there.

"I'm sorry, I—I didn't see anything," Isaac muttered.

"Trust me, if he saw a naked girl outside a computer screen, he'd remember," Mr. Lahey answered cruelly, "That is if he and his little girlfriend actually told the truth when she said they weren't sleeping together."

The Sheriff was not amused as he looked between the man and his son, "Jessie Hansen, right?"

Isaac nodded meekly.

"Yeah, she's friends with Stiles—my son. She's a good girl, with a good head on her shoulders," it was obviously meant for Mr. Lahey's benefit, to say he was not impressed with the man's debilitating way of speaking about the young girl and Isaac. "How'd you get that black eye, Isaac?"

Isaac got flustered and nervous, "School. Lacrosse."

"One more question—You guys get many grave robberies here?"

"A few," Isaac answered, "Usually, they just take stuff like jewelry."

"What'd this one take?" The Sheriff asked.

"Her liver."

* * *

JESSIE'S POV

"Isaac!" Jessie called when she saw her boyfriend depositing his bike, "Are you okay? Scott and Stiles told me about what happened last night at the graveyard."

"Yeah, I'm fine," He told her briskly, making her shrink back a little.

"You don't look fine," She said hesitantly.

"Well how am I supposed to look?" He asked, walking into the school. She followed him with concern as he kept speaking frustrated and high strung, "Am I supposed to look not scared? Not confused? Not freaked out?"

"I don't expect you not to feel all that—that's—that's why I tried to keep you out of all of this," Jessie told him, walking in front of him so he had to look at her.

"Fat lot of good that did," He snapped down at her.

She took a step back from him, feeling a pain in her chest as she whispered, "I'm just worried about you, Isaac."

His face softened as he sighed, "I know—I know..."

She shook her head and straightened her lips into a thin line, "No, I don't think you do." She turned and walked off away from him, making him huff in frustration and smack his hand into the locker next to him.

* * *

JESSIE'S POV

We were in Mr. Harris' class taking a pop quiz. Well—they were taking the quiz. I was already finished. Yeah, eidetic memory certainly helps when I know how to use it.

Stiles leaned forward to whisper to Scott in front of us, "It's causing me severe mental anguish to say this, but he's right." Jackson told the boys that Lydia was going to be the danger, instead of the one in danger, if she's been turned. But I didn't think she was turned. I think she was driven by something caused by her bite—but not changing.

"I know," Scott whispered.

"What if the next body part she steals is from someone who's still alive?"

But Scott couldn't answer before Mr. Harris drowned from his desk, "This is a pop quiz, Mr. Stilinski. If I hear your voice again, I may be tempted to give you detention for the rest of your high school career."

The class snickered and Stiles gaped dumbly, "Can you do that?"

"Well, there it is again," Mr. Harris said with a fake astounded tone, "Your voice. Triggering the only impulse I've ever had to strike a student repeatedly and violently. I'll see you at 3 for detention. You too, Mr. McCall?"

"No, sir," Scott mumbled.

A few silent minutes later I heard Danny whisper, "Dude—your nose. You okay?"

Jackson stumbled out of the classroom and I wasn't really thinking but I ran out after him. He ran down the hall, me hot on his heels until he stumbled and I caught up with him, grabbing his arm, "Jackson, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine!" He snapped but I grabbed his face to look and saw black good dripping from his nose.

I gasped, "Oh my god Jackson! This is not good!"

He saw my alarmed look, "What? What is it? Jessie!"

I swallowed thickly, for a lump had grown in my throat, "It means your body is fighting the bite. It's rejecting it."

"What?" Jackson frowned, scared, "Why?"

I shook my head fearfully, "I don't know—some people don't turn when they're bitten. It either turns you, or..." I didn't want to say it out loud.

"Or what, Jessie?" Jackson asked impatiently.

I looked up at him, "Or it kills you." When his face turned to pure terror I was rushed with information, "But the bite is only supposed to take minutes to render you in too much pain to move and then hours to kill you. I don't know what's happening to you."

"I might die anyway," he whispered.

* * *

For the rest of the day Isaac avoided me. He might deny it later but he didn't come into the cafeteria at lunch.

"What's wrong?" Allison asked. She and I sat together. Lydia was still missing and her and Scott couldn't be seen together and I didn't want to leave her alone.

I sighed, "Something's wrong with Isaac."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

I hesitated, "We don't have to talk about it today of all days, Allison."

She faltered and looked down at her lap, sniffing slightly, before looking up at me and shaking her head, "No I don't want to think about the funeral. And you obviously need to talk about it. Please talk to me?"

I smiled weakly, "Okay—well, he showed up in the middle of the night the other day beat up. And then last night there was the attack at the graveyard with the missing liver. It happened while Isaac was working and it trapped him in the grave but he got out okay somehow. But today I went to ask him if he was okay and he was just rude and stand offish. He snapped at me. He's never done that before. The worst fight we've ever had was over whether the purple skittles were the best or the green ones."

"Maybe he was just spooked," Allison rationalized.

"He didn't even see what it was," I told her, "I think something else happened that he's not telling me. And that scares me more than anything."

"Why more than anything?"

I sighed, "Because after laying it all on the table about werewolves and my family – whatever he feels the need to hide from me has to worse than all that."

"I'm sure he'll come talk to you soon," She tried to console me.

"I just have a horrible feeling. And my feelings are never wrong."


	2. Motive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full Trailer here;  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNEoj63TxBA

"So Allison's grandfather is in town with reinforcements and they trapped an omega werewolf in the woods to cut in half to declare war for retribution over Kate's death?" I summed up in Derek's house.

"Pretty much," He deadpanned.

I groaned, "When is this shit gonna end? Do they even realize that it was Peter that killed Kate and he's dead now?"

"They don't care," Derek growled.

"What about the code?" I asked out loud, "Chris is a stickler for it—he was even willing to shoot his sister to stand by the code."

"I guess Gerard doesn't agree," He said, "Now what did you want to talk about? I'm sorry we didn't get a chance earlier."

I shrugged, "It's okay, you were kidnapped and all."

He sat down next to me on the floor, "What is it?"

"It's about my parents," I sighed.

"Your biological ones or your adoptive ones?"

"My biological ones—do you remember a teenage couple that lived in your house? Tanya and Wesley?" I asked him, "You had to be at least seven or eight."

"Those were your parents?" He asked me incredulously, "They lived with us for maybe ten months or so before they died."

I nodded, "My mom wrote a goodbye letter for me while she was still pregnant. It said that someone was after us because I had this power they were afraid would consume me. They said that your parents would explain everything to me when I came back."

"But she didn't know my family would be killed too," Derek said bitterly.

"I also figured out something about my mom's family that I—I don't know how I feel about it," I pulled out a picture I printed off the internet. It was the Grimm Family Crest. It had two lions and two suns with a knights helmet over it. "This is the family crest. I'm some descendant of the Grimm brothers. And they have a code too—wir jagen die tiere, die unschuldiges blut schwappt."

"Is that German?" Derek sounded confused, soaking all the information in.

I nodded, "Yeah—it means 'we hunt the beast that spills innocent blood'. The Grimms were hunters. But my 'power' can't possibly come from humans unless-"

"Unless your father was something powerful," Derek finished for me.

"I know nothing about my dad's side of the family. He didn't stock pile journals like my mom did."

"I'm sure he must have left something behind," Derek murmured, "Didn't you mention a mausoleum?"

"Yeah that's where I found all the journals," I answered, "And a shit load of weapons. It all suddenly makes sense now."

"What does?" he asked me.

"The people – my mom's family – made a list of requests for my adoptive parents to follow. They had to keep Jessica Sange as my name, they just added Hansen and that's the name I use. They also had to train me in defense and shooting and I learned how to use knives. And I had to learn German, Romanian and Latin. They were hoping I would come digging for answers and become a hunter like them."

We were quiet for a moment, "Do you remember anything from them? When they were living with you I mean?"

Derek thought on it and shook his head, "Not much. Your mother used to babysit me and Laura."

"Really?" I asked him, a slight smile on my face.

"She was the best babysitter ever," Derek told me sincerely, "Let me have desert before dinner sometimes. Read me... Grimm Fairytales."

"She must have known then," I mused, "Do you remember anything from when they lived with you?"

Derek thought on it, "I was a kid, I wasn't clued in on what was going on. My parents just told me they were staying with us for a while and then they told me they were dead and that you were given to a nice couple leaving for Portland."

"Do you remember me?" I asked quietly, looking down at my lap.

"Yeah, I do," He muttered, "You were a good baby – didn't scream or anything. I was never allowed to hold you without Laura's help but Uncle Peter and his wife loved holding you. They really wanted kids."

"Peter knew me?" I asked incredulously, "He must have known who I was the whole time! And now..." I broke off, tearful, "Now he can never tell me what he knows."

"We'll figure it out," Derek told me, ducking his head to look at me, "I promise."

* * *

I was at my locker when I felt hands grip my hips and turn me around and then lips smashing to mine. From what I could see it was Isaac so I didn't shove him away too harshly, but I still shoved him away, "Is that your version of an apology?"

"I'm sorry," He sighed, "I was trying to be spontaneous."

"Well you got that part down," I said, turning back to my locker to get my chem book, "Is that all?"

"I really am sorry," He insisted, "I didn't mean to snap at you like I did."

"I was just worried about you, Isaac, and you bit my head off for it," I said painfully, "And you're hiding something from me now."

"What are you talking about?" he shifted nervously.

"Where's your black eye?" I asked him, "Huh? And don't lie to me, you're an awful liar. And you've been lying since the attack at the graveyard."

"I'm not..." he tried.

But I wasn't having it, "Save it. Come talk to me when you're ready to tell the truth."

* * *

THIRD PERSON POV

Isaac sat across the table from his father that night at dinner, "Um—so far it's an "A" in French and a "B" minus in Econ."

"Oh," Mr. Lahey swallowed his food, "What about chemistry?"

"I'm not sure," Isaac nervously fidgeted with his fork, "Uh, midterms are in a few days so it could go up."

"Well, what's it at now?" His father asked.

"The grade?" Isaac stalled.

"Uh, yeah," Mr. Lahey spoke to him like he was an idiot. And he was started to get impatient.

"Uh, I'm not sure," Isaac lied.

"But you just said it could go up," Mr. Lahey pointed out.

"I just—uh, I meant generally," Isaac stuttered.

Mr. Lahey set down his cutlery and folded his hands, "You wouldn't be lying to me, would you, Isaac?"

Isaac inwardly flinched and whispered, "No."

"Then tell me your grade," Mr. Lahey demanded in a 'nice' voice.

"I just told you," Isaac said, "I don't know."

"You wanna take this little conversation downstairs?" Mr. Lahey asked menacingly, his patience slipping. Isaac shook his head fearfully, "No? Then tell me the grade, son."

"Dad, the semester's only half over," Isaac pleaded.

"Isaac?" Mr. Lahey practically growled.

"There's plenty of time—"

"Isaac," Mr. Lahey warned.

Isaac grew quiet, and whimpered, "It's—it's a 'D'."

Mr. Lahey sighed to his arms and looked at his son, "All right. It's a 'D'. I'm not angry." He chewed and sighed, thinking, "You know I'm gonna have to find a way to punish you though," Isaac gulped. "You know, I have my responsibility as a parent. So we'll start with something simple, like, uh—Tell you what, you do the dishes and you clean up the kitchen, okay?"

Isaac gaped at his dad, surprised that his dad hadn't raised his fist at him or start the beating. He nodded meekly, "Yeah."

"Good," Mr. Lahey said, "Because I—I'd really like to see this place spotless. Know what I'm saying?" He picked up his mug and dropped it to the floor, the glass smashing upon impact. Isaac gulped, knowing it must have been too good to be true. He roughly stood up, holding his plate in his hands, "You know? I mean this entire kitchen," Isaac cowered against the wall as his father raised his voice. Mr. Lahey suddenly threw the plate at Isaac, making the teen immediately cry out in pain. "Yeah! Absolutely—spotless." He saw his son stand up and pick a piece of glass out of his cheek. He smirked, "Well, that was your fault."

Isaac stared at the glass and glared at his father in disgust and rising anger he couldn't control, "You could have blinded me!"

"Shut up!" Mr. Lahey spat, "It's a scratch! It's hardly even-"

He cut off when he noticed Isaac's cut healing impossibly fast right before his eyes.

"Isaac," Mr. Lahey gasped.

Isaac felt his scratch, the now-healed skin, and blanched, running out of the house and jumping on his bike. Mr. Lahey ran out after him, calling his name loudly.

* * *

JESSIE'S POV

I finally typed in the last of Mr. Snuffles' information into the computer and sighed, looking at the clock and seeing it was approaching nine pm. The door dinged and it opened and I looked to see and teenage boy walked in with a scruffy looking puppy whimpering in his hands. I stood up, knowing Deaton was busy and greeted him, "Hello, dropping off?"

He smiled awkwardly. He had blonde hair, light eyes that I couldn't decide between blue and gray, and he seemed pretty tall. "Kind of—this little guy ran in the middle of the street in front of my truck."

I peered at the puppy who wiggled and whined but his front right paw looked limp. I held out my hands, "May I?"

"Of course," He said immediately, handing me the dog, "I'm new here so the bugger's been whining in my car for about a half an hour before I found this place."

"Where are you from?" I asked, noticing an accent in his voice.

"Scotland," He answered, "Is he going to be okay?"

I playfully pouted at the puppy and rubbed his nose before looking back at the guy, "Yeah, it doesn't seem like you hit him, but he has a broken leg. My boss can fix him up. Did you find a collar or anything on him?"

He shook his head, pursing his lips thoughtfully, "No—I figured he must be a stray or something. But I couldn't leave him in the road."

"That's sweet of you," I commented before sitting in my chair, placing the little puppy on my lap, and putting the information I have into the computer, "He'll be taken care of."

"I'm sorry I am so rude," He blushed, "I'm Alex—Smith." He held out his hand for me and I took it.

"I'm Jessie Hansen," I said back, "I was new here too. But Beacon Hills is a great place. Why'd you move here?"

"My dad's job," He shrugged as if saying 'what can you do?'

"Really?" I asked, "Me too. Funny."

He smiled warmly, "No kidding. So is there anything fun to do around here?"

I shrugged, "There's bowling, the theater, diners. Stuff like that. But it is a pretty small town. I usually spend time with my friends or my boyfriend. There's also a mall."

I saw his smile falter when I mentioned my boyfriend, and that was the point. Slip it in there so he knows and you don't feel awkward for thinking he was hitting on you when he wasn't. That was my tactic. How clever am I?

"Do you go to Beacon Hills High School?" He asked me.

I nodded, "Yeah are you going there?"

He nodded back, "I start tomorrow. If it isn't too much to ask, could you show me around? In a completely friendly way," he laughed, "I don't want to get between you and your boyfriend."

I felt a little better after he said that, "In that case, of course I can show you around. I can meet you in front of the office when you get your schedule."

"Great," He smiled, relieved, "Knowing my luck, I'd get lost without some help."

* * *

THIRD PERSON POV

"Derek?" Isaac yelled, running into the abandoned train station, "Derek!"

He found Derek in the beat up train car. "What's wrong?"

"My dad," Isaac breathed, "I think he's dead."

Derek frowned, now worried, "What did you do?"

Isaac swallowed and shook his head, "That's the thing. It wasn't me."

* * *

JESSIE'S POV

I got a text from Stiles saying to come watch their practice because Scott smelled another werewolf in the locker room and he wanted to see if I could get a 'feeling'. Now he puts stock in my feelings.

I walked up to the sitting on the bench and sat next to them, looking around for my estranged boyfriend. "So you found another werewolf?"

"Kind of," He answered, "It was a scent, but I couldn't tell who it was."

"What if you can get him one-on-one?" Stiles asked, "Would that help?"

Scott looked around, "Yeah."

"Okay. I think I got an idea," Then Stiles, in his spazzy Stiles way, ran off to do something.

Then I heard someone say, "Hey Jessie."

Scott and I turned around to see Alex Smith. I smiled, "Hey, what are you doing here?"

He shrugged, "I got to school early and figured I'd check out the sports. I've never played lacrosse but this school doesn't have a football team."

"Come sit," I patted the bench next to me and then gestured to Scott, "This is my friend Scott—Scott, this is Alex. He came into the vet last night with a stray puppy he found in the road."

Scott looked a little uncomfortable and I think it was because Alex was a guy and I had a boyfriend. But I can have guys that are friends. I'm friends with Scott and Stiles and Jackson. Duh. "Hey man."

They did some macho fist bump thing and then Stiles ran back over and sat on Scott's other side, "I told coach you're switching with Danny for the day—Hey man."

Alex nodded back and Scott whined, "But I hate playing goal."

"Remember when I said I had an idea? This is the idea."

"Oh," Scott realized.

"There we go," Stiles said, making me smirk.

"What's the idea?" Scott asked dumbly.

Stiles gave him an incredulous look, "I seriously don't understand how you survive without me sometimes."

Coach blew his whistle, "Let's go! Line it up!" The boys all got into formation. Scott in the goal with a defender in front of him and the rest lined up facing the goal. "Faster! Make daddy proud."

"You're gonna love this," I told Alex.

Coach blew his whistle again and one player caught the ball and went to try and make a goal but Scott sprinted out of the goal box and tackled him to the ground. He helped him up and sniffed him, looking for the werewolf scent.

"Is he sniffing him?" Alex asked me.

"I have weird friends."

Coach blew his whistles, "McCall!"

"Yeah," Scott answered sheepishly.

"Usually the goalie stays somewhere within the vicinity of the actual goal," Coach stressed.

"Yes, coach."

"Let's try it again," And his favorite whistle blows.

But Scott didn't listen. He tackled the next player again.

And again.

And again.

THIRD PERSON POV

Coach blew his whistled again, "McCall! You come out of that goal one more time and you'll be doing suicide tuns till you die. It'll be the first ever suicide run that actually ends in a suicide. Got it?"

"Tough coach," Alex commented.

"Tough game," Jessie answered.

Jackson excused himself from the the stunt, saying his shoulder was hurting. He came to sit next to Jessie, "What the Hell is McCall doing?"

Jessie whispered to him quietly so Alex wouldn't hear, "He smelt another wolf on the team."

He looked at her in shock, "Are you serious?"

Next up was Isaac. Stiles saw how he breathed in and out angrily and realized he must be the wolf. But he couldn't say anything as Isaac caught the ball and ran aggressively for the goal. Scott sprinted out to him and they slammed into each other, spinning in the air and landing crouched in front of each other, their eyes glowing golden.

Then they both heard someone coming toward them and noticed it was Sheriff Stilinski and two other police officers walking toward Isaac. He looked at Scott with a desperate expression, "Please don't tell them. And please don't tell Jessie. Please."

Scott swallowed down remorseful, "I think she already knows."

They boys stood and saw Jessie standing and staring at Isaac with shock and fear. He tugged his helmet off and tried to give her an apologetic look but he noticed a tear fall down her cheek when the Sheriff came up to him, "I need to talk to you, son."

Jessie followed them but Sheriff Stilinski put a hand on her shoulder, "You can't come Jessie-"

"Please, sir," Isaac interrupted him, "I want her here."

He sighed and complied and spoke to the teen couple and coach. "We found Mr. Lahey dead in his car parked outside an alley this morning."

Jessie gasped, "What happened?"

"Still being determined," He answered, looking at Isaac, "Did you notice your father was missing Isaac?"

He shook his head, "Last I saw him was dinner last night. I figured he was at work this morning."

Jessie could tell he was lying and she had a painful feeling in her gut, that scared her more than any other feeling.

Sheriff Stilinski sighed, "Come on."

Jessie watched as her boyfriend was escorted away by the Sheriff. She wiped at the tears in her eyes as Scott and Stiles came up to her. Stiles put an arm around her shoulder as Scott said, "We need to find a way to get him out of there."

"How?" Jessie asked helplessly.

"I don't know," Scott sighed, "But tonight's the full moon and he won't be able to control himself."

* * *

"How'd you guys get sent to the principal's office?" Jessie asked Scott and Stiles next to her.

"Danny said Jackson was here talking to the Sheriff and so were you," Scott said, "We need to hear what he's saying."

"Jackson is in there because he's Isaac's neighbor and probably heard or saw something," Jessie whispered.

Scott listened in carefully.

"Listen to me," Sheriff Stilinski said, "You're telling me that you knew Isaac's father was hitting him?"

"Hitting him?" Jackson scoffed, "He was kicking the crap out of him."

The Sheriff was incredulous, "Did you ever say anything to anyone? A teacher, parents, anyone?"

Jackson shook his head arrogantly, "Nope. It's not my problem."

The Sheriff covered up his rising frustration and anger, "No, no, of course not. You know, it's funny that the kids getting beaten up are always the ones who least deserve it."

"Yeah," Jackson answered disinterestedly before he realized what was said, "Wait, what?"

"I think we're done here." They walked out and Sheriff started to say, "Okay, Jessie-" before he saw Scott sitting next to his son hiding behind a magazine, "Hi Scott... Jessie, you're turn."

The girl sighed and followed him into the room and sat down.

"Okay," The Sheriff started, "Jessie did you know Mr. Lahey?"

Jessie shrugged, "I met him once when I brought Isaac some tea when he was home sick. I was only over for a few minutes before Deaton called me into work because Scott didn't show."

"What did you think of him?"

"I thought... he was intimidating and... angry. I didn't like him."

"Did you know he was beating Isaac?" Sheriff Stilinski asked gently.

Jessie sighed, a tear tracking its way down her cheek, "I had suspicions. It's just that Mr. Lahey seemed so mean and aggressive and Isaac seemed nervous and scared. I begged him to tell you what was going on. But he refused—he said that it was his dad and he couldn't do that."

"He was protecting the man who abused him," Sheriff noted dumbfounded.

She nodded, "Isn't that how it works? The victim always knows that it's wrong and it hurts but it's still their parent and they still love them for some inexplicable reason. And they're more scared of what'll happen to them if they do tell." She sighed, "Isaac begged me to just leave it alone. I kept begging him to get out of there. But..."

"But now we have a dead body and a suspect with motive," he finished.

"Isaac didn't do it," Jessie said with absolute certainty, "I know he didn't. He couldn't. As messed up as it sounds, he loved his Dad. He told me that he wasn't always like this. He used to be a good dad. But I guess when Isaac's mother died, something changed."

"As much as I trust you, Jessie," Sheriff Stilinski said softly, "I have to go where the evidence takes me."

Jessie nodded painfully, "I understand."

"Come on, you're free to go," He helped her up and out of the room. She immediately sat down next to Scott and the sheriff and his deputy left.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked her.

"Isaac didn't kill his father," Jessie answered, "I know he didn't. We need to get him out of here."

"We know," Scott reassured her, "We'll figure this out."

Just then they heard a man walk out, the principal, "Boys. Come on in."

They all looked up and saw Gerard Argent—Allison's grandfather.

* * *

Jessie said she needed a moment so she could wait for Scott and Stiles. Stiles got stuck in detention and as soon as they were let go, Scott grabbed Jessie's hand in his, "Come on." and they ran through the school until they found the back door leading to the back parking lot.

Isaac was in the back of the police car when he heard them and he looked back at Jessie. The couple gave each other helpless looks at the car drove off. Jessie sniffed and then Derek pulled up in his car, "Get in."

"Are you serious?" Scott asked, "You did that. That's your fault."

Derek looked down and sighed through his nose, "I know that. Now get in the car and help me."

Jessie tugged on Scott's hand and they got into the car.

* * *

They got to Isaac's with a flashlight and Jessie shivered when they entered, "Who really killed Isaac's dad?"

"I don't know yet," Derek answered. He led them to the basement and gestured inside, "You wanna learn? Let's start now."

"What's down there?" Scott pointed his flashlight down the stairs.

"Isaac's motive," Jessie whispered, holding onto Derek's jacket sleeve.

Scott walked downstairs and searched for something, "And what am I looking for?"

"Follow your senses," Derek led him.

"What happened down here?" Scott asked as he came up to an old beat up refrigerator. Derek and Jessie walked down to him and Derek told him to open it.

Scott lifted the lid of the fridge and Jessie gasped at what she saw. It was covered with blood and scratch marks of someone trying to get out. "He locked him in there?"

Scott rushed to her and wrapped his arms around her as she started crying softly. He rubbed her back to soothe her. He spoke to Derek, "This is why he said yes to you."

"Everyone wants power," Derek answered, "And Isaac saw what we were capable of and wanted it—he wanted to be able to defend himself—and protect Jessie." The girl in question flinched at the mention of her name and wrenched herself from Scott's grip to glare at the new alpha.

"How could you do this?" She accused him, "I specifically told you that I didn't want him roped into all of this—because of me."

"He was already in this," Derek argued, "Since that night I became alpha and you told him everything—he was involved whether you like it or not. The only difference now is that he can defend himself."

"And he'll go crazy once a month trying to kill me!" Jessie yelled, "You can't go around just biting people, Derek!"

"I can if they're willing!" He told her, "I explained everything—he knew everything—and he still wanted it."

"Then he's an idiot," Scott said.

"And you're the idiot dating Argent's daughter," Derek revealed, making Scott go quiet, "Yeah. I know your little secret. And if I know, how long do you think it's gonna take for them to find out? You saw what happens to an omega. With me, you learn how to use all of your senses. With me, you learn control. Even on a full moon."

"If I'm with you, I lose her," Scott said.

"You're gonna lose her anyway," Derek pointed out, "You know that."

Then Jessie's phone rang and she answered it to Stiles. She gasped and said, "What?"

"What is it?" Scott asked her.

She ignored him, "Was she sure?... Okay we'll meet you there." She hung up her phone, "We have to go to the police station. Allison told Stiles that some guy dressed as a Sheriff's Deputy left her house with a box marked with wolfs bane. They're going to kill Isaac."

* * *

Derek and Jessie pulled up to the police station behind Stiles' jeep and got out. Stiles greeted them, "Okay, Allison said she slowed him down but we still have to get Isaac out of there. But how are we gonna get past her?" He gestured to the window where they could see a police woman in the front.

"Leave it to me," Jessie muttered, marching into the station like a woman on a mission. She muttered to Derek, "Distract her."

Derek grinned and proceeded to sweet talk the naive woman.

Jessie led Stiles down the hall. "Wait—we have to go this way-"

"That won't work," Jessie denied, "They thought of that. We have to go straight to Isaac."

They stumbled upon a limping Sheriff's Deputy and Stiles noticed the arrow head sticking out of his leg. "Oh, shi-"

The impostor went for his gun but Jessie thought quickly and kicked him in his wound, making him yell out in pain and bend over enough for Jessie to slam her elbow in the back of the head.

Stiles whistled, impressed, "Wow—you really need to teach me some moves."

"You can train with me and Baako one of these days," Jessie answered, bending over and grabbing the box. She opened it to see a syringe and immediately dropped it on the ground and smashed it. "Come on."

They walked into the holding cell room to see the door broken open and Isaac nowhere in sight.

"Where is he-" Stiles was cut off when Isaac showed up and slammed him into the wall, wolfed out and out of control.

"Isaac!" Jessie shouted, grabbing his attention. He went for her but Derek walked in and roared at him, eyes glowing red and fangs spitting out of his mouth. Wolf-Isaac immediately recoiled, crouching into the wall and burying his head into his hands and knees in fear.

Jessie called out his name and bent by him, grabbing his sweaty clammy face in her hands. He looked at her in fear – fear of what he'd become and what he could do to her, fear that she would think he was a monster now. She stroked her fingers through his hair and kissed his forehead. He eventually calmed down and wrapped his arms around her. She hugged his head to her and sighed, "It'll be okay, Isaac."


	3. Cold as Ice

It was PE and we were rock climbing. Right now Scott and Allison were flirting on the rock wall. I stood by Stiles, "So some lizard creature, tail and all, attacked Scott and Allison in Isaac's house?"

"He said that is just kind of stood there and then it bolted," Stiles answered me.

"What the hell was it?" I asked out loud.

"I'm surprised you haven't reached into your mind mansion and figured it out yet," He replied smartly.

I narrowed my eyes at him before watching as Allison knocked Scott's foot and he fell to the floor. We all laughed. Coach Finstock laughed loudest, "McCall, I don't know why, but your pain gives me a special kind of joy."

"Next up! Jessie—Erica! Let's go, the wall."

I looked next to me as Erica and I latched up. She looked up at the wall in fear and I leaned over to whisper, "Don't worry, I'll be right next to you."

She smiled weakly as we got to work climbing. As promised I stayed right next to her the whole time. We were about half way up when she stalled. "Erica, what's wrong?"

She couldn't speak. She started borderline hyperventilating.

"Erica. Dizzy?" Coach asked, "Is it vertigo?"

"Vertigo's a dysfunction of the vestibular system of the inner ear," Lydia told him snidely, "She's just freaking out."

"Erica!" Coach called up.

"I'm fine," She tried helplessly.

"Coach, maybe it's not safe," Allison commented, "You know she's epileptic."

"Erica, y-you're fine!" Coach called up to her, "Just—Just kick off from the wall. There's a mat to catch you."

I climbed over closer to her and whispered, "It's okay, Erica. You're perfectly safe. I won't let anything happen to you. Here," I held my left hand out to her, "Grab my hand and we'll go back down together."

"I can't..." She whispered fearfully.

I used my hand to smooth out her hair from her face, maternally, and coaxed, "Yes, you can. I'll keep hold of you and I won't let you fall."

She looked at me for a little while, before slowly slipping her hand into mine. I smiled at her, "Now we're both gonna let go and kick off the wall, okay? On three—One, two, three..."

We both landed on our feet on the mat. Coach put a hand on her shoulder, "See? You're fine, walk it off."

The other in class were snickering at her and she stormed out of the gym. I followed after her into the girl's locker room, "Erica!"

"What?" She asked bitterly.

"It's okay," I told her, "You're safe, that's all that matters."

"I'm just the freak with epilepsy," She slammed her locker open.

"Of course you're not," I told her, sitting by her on the bench, "You're more than that, obviously. You shouldn't cut yourself down like that."

"You heard them," She muttered, falling onto the bench beside me.

"I heard the stupid teenagers laughing because they're too bored with their pathetic little lives and hate themselves so they make themselves feel better by hating others," I told her, "Who the hell cares about them? The only people who matter are the ones who care about you. You're gonna be fine, Erica. You're a good girl."

I hugged her and she cried into my shoulder softly. And I let her.

* * *

I closed my locker door and jolted when I saw Alex standing behind it, "Oh my god, you scared me."

He raised his hands in surrender, "Sorry, didn't mean too. I was just coming to say-"

"Sorry about your boyfriend getting arrested for murder and then labeled a fugitive?" I finished wryly, "That's nice of you but I really don't want to talk about it, Alex."

"That's okay," He conceded, "I don't want to overwhelm you. But after...that.. I figured you might need someone to talk to."

"That's really sweet, Alex," I started, "but I have something to do right now. I'll see you later."

He was about to answer when a blonde girl ran up to him and socked him in the shoulder, "Hey bro."

He groaned at her like a typical big brother before looking at me, "Jessie, this is my little sister, Emily."

The girl grinned and shook my hand, "Only younger by three minutes, but he still loves to point it out."

I smiled at her, she seemed sweet but hyper, "Nice to meet you."

"Ditto," She smirked, "Hey! Do you know of any cool places to hang out? Or cool girls? I need to get out of my testosterone infested house."

I laughed at her antics, "I have friends, Allison and Lydia. Some stuff has happened so I'm sure they need a girls night. I'll talk to them and let you know."

"That's totally awesome, thank you!" She grinned, handing me her phone to exchange numbers. We then all bid goodbye and I left to meet Erica in the gym. She wanted to take another crack at climbing the wall and she said she'd do it without me anyway if I refused. So I agreed in order to be there to protect her.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked her, "There's no harness or mat this time."

"I have to do this," She told me, wrapping her hair up in a bun and walking toward the wall. She slowly climbed each fake rock one by one, taking deep breaths as she got higher. But then she stopped and I noticed her body shaking aggressively. But it was different than her episode in class. I knew she was about to have a seizure.

I don't know what happened. Maybe it was the adrenaline flowing through my body when I saw her about to fall. But time suddenly slowed down around me. I knew because Erica was perfectly still with no hands gripping the rocks anymore. I acted quickly and ran up the wall, barely even gripping it or climbing before wrapping my arms around her and climbing back down the wall to the floor.

After she was safely on the ground, time sped back up and her body started to convulse violently with a seizure racking her body. I turned her on her side and held her in my lap. She gripped one of my hands and I used the other to stroke her hair and whisper to her to calm her down.

I heard the door slam open and Scott, Allison and some other students run in. Allison gasped and looked at Scott, "How'd you know?"

"I just felt it."

* * *

Lunch was just starting and I was on my way to the cafeteria when I saw Jackson pushing Lydia into the wall. He hissed something at her and then stormed off. I blocked his way, "Jackson, what the hell was that?"

"Its her fault I'm bleeding black goo!" He hissed, still angry.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked him.

"Whatever that makes her immune—she passed it onto me," He told me aggressively.

"That's not how it works—it's a werewolf bite, not a STD," I explained, "Something else must be happening to you."

"No—nothing is happening to me," He growled, "I video taped myself on the full moon. Nothing happened. Just me sleeping for hours of footage."

"Like I said, something else is happening, and it's not Lydia's fault," I reasoned, "And it's not fair to blame her, especially when she doesn't even know about anything that's been going on."

He sighed, "If you're not gonna help, just get out of my way."

* * *

I sat with Scott and Stiles at lunch and Stiles was going on about the date at the ice rink tonight. Allison had told me about it and invited me so I told her about Emily and asked if she could join. Allison said that we needed more normal friends as a joke and agreed. So I texted Emily and she excitedly texted back that she 'was so in'.

"Why don't you invite your friend Alex too?" Scott suggested.

Stiles frowned, "No, he's too good looking. Lydia will ignore me for him any day."

"Don't worry," I laughed, "Emily said he was busy tonight anyway."

"What could he be busy with? He doesn't know anybody," Scott thought out loud.

I shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe he made other friends in his classes."

Just then we heard the cafeteria go quiet and we looked to see Erica sauntering in the room like she was on a runway. She wore a white tank top, tight on her body with a short black skirt, leopard print heals and a leather jacket. Her eyes were heavily make up with scarlet lip stick. She smirked at the attention and bent over in front of two boys, stealing an apple and taking a sexy bite out of it.

Lydia faltered next to our table, slapping her hands on the table top, "What—the holy hell—is that?"

"It's Erica," I answered before getting up and running after her when she strutted out.

"Erica!" I called, making her stop and turn around, smirking.

"What? Rueful now that I'm taking some of the attention away from you?"

"What?" I gaped, "Erica—he turned you, didn't he? Derek gave you the bite."

She nodded happily, "Now I've joined your pack. You should be happy there's another she-wolf with you guys."

"What?" I folded my arms in front of my chest, "What are you talking about?"

"Like you don't know," she drawled, "You got to me on that wall in literally a millisecond. You couldn't do that if you weren't a werewolf too."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not a werewolf," I revealed to her, "I—I don't know what happened yesterday. I just saw you about to fall... and things slowed down enough for me to get you."

"Slowed down?" She asked, "You were nothing but a blur—way to fast for a human."

"Look I don't know what's wrong with me, okay?" I raised my voice, "I don't know and I've been trying to figure it out but if you haven't noticed, things have been crazy around here."

"No offense, but I don't care anymore," She said, "Do you know how long I've been the butt of every joke? Now—they don't laugh at the sight of my frizzy hair or my acne scars. Their jaws drop because they've never seen anything better. I'm suddenly faster, stronger, hotter—better in every way."

I sighed, shaking my hand, "Erica... you don't know what you've done."

"No," She denied, "I finally know exactly what I'm doing."

* * *

THIRD PERSON POV

Derek dropped Erica at the train car with Isaac before he left to 'run an errand'. An errand named Marissa Jude.

He peeked in to see if there were any customers. He saw one woman working at the counter and a large teenage boy talking to her. But neither of them were the people he wanted to see.

The door dinged as he entered and the woman – whose name was Paula by her name tag – greeted him, "Hello, what can I do for you?"

"I'm just looking for Marissa," Derek stated calmly, "Is she here?"

The woman shook her head sadly, "No, she took the day off. But I can tell her you stopped by—what's your name?"

Derek shook his head, "That's okay," and walked back out of the bakery.

Before Derek could get to his car he heard someone call out for him to stop. Derek froze when he smelt the definite scent of another wolf—a beta wolf. He turned to see the teen boy who was just in the bakery, his eyes flashing before getting control of himself, "What?"

"I know you know what I am and I know what you are," The teen said, "I just moved here. But my last alpha told me what happens to Omegas. I don't want that. I have a family to protect."

"And you want to join my pack?" Derek guessed.

He nodded, "Just think about it," and walked back into the bakery.

* * *

Lydia, Allison, Emily and I all got ready for the ice rink outing before heading over. We met Stiles and Scott in front and Stiles used the keys he bought off of Boyd – a guy at our school – to open up. Emily and I hung with each other mostly so Stiles could try and put the moves on Lydia and Allison and Scott could be together.

"So her dad doesn't approve so they fake 'broke up'?" Emily asked for confirmation.

I nodded, "That about sums it up. So no telling."

"No telling," she agreed.

We skated around for a while but I just wasn't feeling it. I ended up sitting on the bleachers, staring at my phone. I had no new texts. I hadn't seen or heard from Isaac since he broke out of holding. I understood that he was a fugitive and all but really... no one was tapping my phone or anything. The very least he could do was let me know he's okay.

Emily sat next to me and asked, "What's wrong?"

I sighed, "I'm sure your brother told you about my boyfriend being arrested."

"And now he's a runaway," Emily finished.

I laid back against the bench behind me, "I just... thought I knew him. I don't know what to believe in anymore."

Suddenly Lydia started screaming bloody murder, digging her nails into the ice like she was looking for something. Stiles tried to calm her down as Emily, Scott, Allison and I rushed over to see what was wrong. She was staring and screaming at something in the ice.

But there was nothing there.

* * *

"Hey does your family wanna come to dinner tonight?" Emily asked me the next day, "It's just that we don't know a lot of people and...uh.. my dad has a hard time. He works from home but he's crippled from the waist down. So he doesn't get out of the house much and meet people."

I was a little floored by all the new information, "Wow—that's sounds like it sucks. But, um, not that it's any of my business – but Alex said you moved here because of your dad's job. If your dad works from home, why'd you have to move?"

"Oh-" Emily stammered, like I caught her in a lie or something. She nervously chuckled, "Alex doesn't like to tell people why we really moved here so he just says whatever comes to mind. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed or else he would have thought of something better."

"Why'd you really move here?" I asked her.

She frowned, "Our—um—mom died a couple years ago. It was really rough back home so we came here. Dad wanted a small town with lots of woods and Beacon Hills had great school ratings. So we came here."

"I'm sorry about your mom," I murmured, "I'll asked my parents about dinner tonight, okay?"

She smiled watery, "Thanks."

* * *

I was on my way into the cafeteria when Stiles and Scott grabbed my hands and tugged me right back out, "Boyd isn't here today."

"So?" I asked, "Maybe he's sick."

"Boyd has a perfect attendance record," Stiles said, "And now of all times he doesn't show? no—Derek's giving him the bite."

"Okay..." I sighed, "This is bad. Stiles you go check out his house. Scott and I will check the ice rink. We'll call you if we find him."

* * *

THIRD PERSON POV

Stiles hastily and poorly parked his jeep and ran out to Boyd's front door, knocking vigorously, "Hey, Boyd!? Hey, Boyd? It's Stiles." He turned around and jolted, "Oh—wow."

Erica stood there in all her tight shirt glory, "What are you doing here, Stiles?"

"Uh, nothing," He played off, "I was just looking for, um-"

"Boyd?" Erica guessed.

"Yeah—yes. Boyd," Stiles answered.

Erica tilted her head, "You know what you're doing right now that's kind of funny? You're only looking in my eyes."

"That's funny?" Stiles asked, getting warmer.

"Well, yeah," Erica grinned, "Because it's that kind of look where you're trying not to look anywhere other than my eyes—but you want to, don't you?" She purred at him, "You want a nice—long— _hard_ —look."

Stiles gulped and shakily shook his head, "Not really. no."

Erica pouted, "Oh. So it's just my eyes?"

"Yes," Stiles repeated, "You have beautiful eyes."

"I have beautiful everything," Erica insisted.

"And the new-found self-confidence. Congratulations, Erica. I should get going," He tried to walk off but she slammed her hand into his chest, making him gasp.

"You're not going anywhere," She growled.

"Why not?" Stiles groaned.

Erica smirked and held up a car part, "You're having car trouble," and she slammed the metal cylinder into Stiles head.

* * *

Scott and I found Boyd working the Zamboni on the ice at the rink. I let Scott do the talking for now because I had a feeling we weren't alone. "Boyd. I just wanna talk."

Boyd ignored him, but I saw him frowning as he drove.

"Hey, come on, Boyd, please," Scott pleaded. No answer. He sighed, "Did Derek tell you everything? And I don't just mean going out of control on the full moons. I mean everything."

Boyd turned the keys and turned off the Zamboni, "He told me about the hunters."

"And that's not enough for you to say no?" Scott asked incredulously, "Whatever you want there's other ways to get it."

"I just wanna not each lunch alone everyday," Boyd stated, frowning. He looked so lonely and lost. I just wanted to hug him.

"If you're looking for friends, you can do a lot better than Derek," Scott told him.

"That really hurts, Scott," Derek's voice sounded behind us. We turned around to see him standing with Erica... and Isaac. But he looked different. He didn't look shy and sweet. He looked cocky as he stood in a leather jacket with his hands in his pockets and his head tilted up like some greaser from the 50s.

"I mean," Derek went on, "if you're going to review me, at least take a consensus. Erica, how's life been for you since we met?"

Erica twirled her head and pretended to think on it like she'd been put on the spot, "Hm. In a word—trans-formative." She growled deeply, her eyes glowing gold and her teeth coming out, but the rest of her face staying human.

"Isaac?" When Derek said his name I felt a painful jab in my chest.

Isaac shrugged nonchalantly, "Well, I'm a little bummed about being a fugitive, but other than that, I'm great."

I don't know what came over me. Some other emotion took over my mouth and spoke calmly and concisely, "Yeah—he told you what you'll gain, including the bad stuff. But did he tell you what you'll lose?" I asked Boyd, "Sure you'll have strength, speed and healing and all that shit. But you can never tell your family." I paused as he looked down in his lap before looking back at my eyes, "You can never be honest with them about where you go at night. You also lose control. It takes years for a bitten wolf to get control of their blood lust and Derek can't teach you properly because he wasn't bitten."

I cast a look at Derek and saw his face go hard. He knew I was right.

I looked back at Boyd, "You also lose your sense of security—always running from people who fear what you are and want to kill you. You lose yourself to a pack. You lose people," I swallowed and looked at Isaac – who was still smirking cockily – and my voice cracked, "Like a girlfriend."

Isaac's face immediately fell as he took a step toward me in disbelief, "Jessie-"

"Save it," I interrupted him in a hard voice, stepping back. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the looks on everyone's face as they watched. Erica actually looked like she cared. Both Derek and Scott looked shocked. But Isaac's face struck me the most. He was devastated and frozen.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, "I know—Boyd. I know it may seem like a gift when you can hear a pin drop or when you can win a fight against nearly anyone. But how do you think it feels when it forces you to lose the one you love because they've turned into something else you don't even recognize?" I looked up at him, "Please, if you want friends—you have me and I'll help you. But this isn't right for you—for anyone."

Scott must have seen the others advancing because he said, "Wait—this isn't exactly a fair fight."

"Then go home," Derek stated easily.

Erica and Isaac both kept advancing, Isaac on Scott and Erica on me. Scott and I shared a glance and nodded at each other. Scott's eyes began to glow, "I meant fair for them."

THIRD PERSON POV

Isaac growled and shifted, running for Scott – who shifted quickly and growled. Scott grabbed Isaac by the shirt and threw him across the rink, his body slamming into the wall.

Erica growled and ran for Jessie, grabbing her shoulder. Jessie was quick to grab her wrist and knock her elbow in, making the she-wolf howl, and then turned her body in and forced her on the floor with her knee in her shoulder, "Stay down."

Isaac ran for Scott again and swung him around into the ice. Scott skidded down the ice, scratching his nails into the substance to stop himself. He growled and ran for Isaac, punching him in the gut, making him grunt and fall on the floor. Scott panted as he kicked Isaac in the face and he went down.

Jessie averted her eyes from the scene as Erica wiggled under her grip. Jessie sighed through her nose and grabbed Erica's shoulder, turning her around and then slamming her head into the ice, "I said—stay—down."

Scott growled at both of the wolves, "Don't you get it? He's not doing this for you. He's just adding to his own power, okay? It's all about him. He makes you feel like he's giving you some kind of gift when all he's done is turn you into a bunch of guard dogs!" He grabbed both of them by their collars and pushed them so they slid under Derek's feet – beaten.

Derek smirked, "It's true. It is about power." He advanced on Scott, his nails slipping out and his eyes glowing red as he growled, baring his fangs. Boyd jumped down next to Jessie and she wrapped an arm around him.

Derek immediately punched Scott in the stomach, scratching him. Scott groaned in pain and tried to retaliate but Derek hit him again, making him bend over. Before Derek could strike again, Jessie launched herself forward and grabbed his fist. Derek grimaced when he noticed that he wasn't strong enough to move his fist from her grip.

Jessie glared up at him, "You may be stronger than Scott because you're the big bad alpha. But you're not stronger than me." She didn't know—but as she said this her eyes started to glow a vibrant cobalt blue.

Derek gasped, "Your eyes..."

But Jessie ignored him and shouted out as she twisted his arm behind his back and slammed him into the floor, "You come for Scott or Stiles or Allison or Lydia or anybody else that I care about – and I'm gonna put you down like a dumb dog."

She shoved her knee into his back for good measure, hearing him grunt in discomfort, and then shoved herself off of him and pushed him so he slid to Isaac and Erica's feet on the ice.

She looked at Boyd, "You don't wanna be like him."

"You're right," Boyd said quietly, "I'll stick with you guys."

Jessie smiled weakly and looked to see Derek, Isaac and Erica walk off. Just before Isaac followed them off the ice, he looked back at Jessie—her face streaked with tears as a tear fell down his cheek. And then he walked away.

* * *

Jessie and Scott sat in her car outside the rink. Jessie held the keys in her hands, wanting to put them in the car and drive and drive far far away. But her hands wouldn't stop shaking as tears blurred her vision. Sobs escaped her throat as she lost total control and started crying inconsolably.

Scott took the keys out of her hands and set them in the cup holder, taking her shoulders in his arms and bringing her to rest in his side as she cried. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms comfortingly and kissed her forehead, "I'm so sorry—it'll be okay. It'll be okay."

The teens were unaware that they were being watched by another teen wolf around the corner of the building. Each sob from Jessie's body was another knife in Isaac's chest. He turned away and leaned against the wall to support himself as tears streamed down his own face. He couldn't believe he ruined the only real good thing he had in his life. He loved Jessie with all his heart and he betrayed her.

* * *

Jessie helped Scott into the vet, "I'll get something for your cuts."

"I don't understand why they're not healing," Scott panted.

Before Jessie could answer, another voice did, "Because they're from an alpha." The teens jolted upon seeing their boss standing beside a slashed up dead body, "I think maybe we better have that talk now."


	4. Dinner with the Smiths

"They're coming back, so we don't have much time to talk," Deaton said as he got a bottle out and dabbed some cotton balls with it.

Scott asked, "What is that?" like it was voodoo.

"Rubbing alcohol," Deaton answered, "You don't want it to get infected, do you? You will heal the same, just not as quickly, because of Derek."

"Okay, how do you know all of this?" Scott asked, pausing, "Actually, how—how do you know anything?"

Deaton smiled knowingly, "It's a longer story-"

I interrupted him, "You were an emissary, weren't you?"

"We'll get into that later," He said urgently, "I can help your kind, Scott. But this-" he gestured to the slashed up body on the table, "This is something different. The Argents will find out – they'll have a record or book. With descriptions, histories, notations, of all the things they've discovered."

"A bestiary," I guessed, to which he nodded.

* * *

Scott and I huddled behind the door, listening. I couldn't see what anyone was doing but I could tell who they were by their voices.

"I'm starting to think I need to buy a more prominent 'closed' sign." – Deaton.

"Hello, Alan," that was Allison's grandfather... Gerard, I think, "It's been a while. The last I heard, you had retired."

"Last I heard you followed a code of conduct," Deaton retorted calmly.

"If you hadn't noticed, this body is one of ours," Chris Argent pointed out, like that made it any better.

"I did," Deaton admitted, but he wasn't finished, "I also noticed the gunpowder residue on his finger tips. So don't assume I will be swayed by your philosophy just 'cause I'll answer a few questions."

"He was only 24," Chris whispered.

"Killers come in all ages," Deaton replied.

"All ages, sizes, shapes," Gerard listed, "It's the last one that concerns us."

I gripped Scott's hand.

"See this cut? Precise. Almost surgical. This isn't the wound have killed him. This had a more interesting purpose."

"Relating to the spine," Gerard 'guessed'.

"That's right. Whatever made this cut, it's laced with a paralytic toxin, potent enough to disable all motor functions. These are the cause of death. Notice the patterns on each side."

"Five for each finger," Chris murmured.

"Each claw," Gerard insisted.

"As you can see," Deaton said, "it dug in, slashed upward, eviscerating the lungs and slicing through the bone of the rib cage with ease."

"Have you ever seen anything like this before?" Chris asked.

"No," was the answer.

"Any idea at all what killed him?" Chris asked helplessly.

"No. But I can tell you it's fast, remarkably strong, and has the capacity to render its victims essentially helpless within seconds."

"If you're saying we should be cautious—we get it."

"I'm saying you should be afraid," Deaton warned, "Be very afraid... Because in the natural world, predators with paralytic toxins use them to catch and eat their prey. This prey wasn't eaten. That means whatever killed him only wanted to kill him. In fact—killing may be it's only purpose."

* * *

Scott went to go meet Allison and I went home for the dinner my family was having with Alex and Emily's family. My parents decided to treat them and invite them to our house so the time was set for 7:30. I got home at 7:39.

"I'm sorry I'm late—there was an emergency," I apologized as I walked into the house.

Alex and Emily smiled and Emily waved her hand, "No problem—we just got here like a minute ago."

"Um, Jessie," Alex cleared his throat, "This is our dad, Matthias."

A man in a wheelchair smiled up at me friendlily, but there was something off with his smile. Like it was too friendly, trying too hard. Maybe he really did need friends. "Hello, Jessie, it's so nice to finally meet you. Alex and Emily have gone on and on about you since you've been so welcoming to them."

I smiled politely, "It's no biggie—I know what it's like to be the new kid."

"Still, I'm grateful," He responded.

"Honey why don't you put your coat in your room?" My mom suggested, "Dinner's about to be set."

I nodded and excused myself. I threw my blue coat onto the chair in my room and sat at my desk/vanity. My eyes were red and swollen and my face was bare, my makeup having washed off due to my tears. I wiped my face clean and set to line my eyes in brown eyeliner and reapply my mascara when I heard a knock at the door. "Come in."

Alex of all people walked into my room. He was momentarily distracted by the painting of the giant gray tree on my walls, "Wow," he cleared his throat and gave me a concerned look, "Are you alright? You seemed a little upset down there."

I sighed, staring at the girl in the mirror. She wasn't me. I was happy and vibrant and compassionate. This girl was devastated.

"Isaac and I broke up," I revealed to him.

By his raised eyebrows and wide eyes, he was surprised, but he came over and kneeled next to my seated body and looked up at me with concern and determination, "You're a strong girl, Jessie. I haven't known you very long but I know you're not the kind of girl to take pain lying down. You grab pain by the throat and choke it out. You're a survivor and a fighter. So I'm not worried about you—you'll be just fine."

I smiled weakly at him, "Thanks. That's really sweet."

He shrugged like it was no big deal, "No problem—it's the truth," he stood and offered my his hand. I took it and he tugged me up and put a hand on my shoulder, "But if you ever need to talk—I'm here. Although Emily might be better at it, I'm still a good listener."

I chuckled, "Thanks for the offer, Alex."

We went back downstairs just as food was being dished out. Alex sat by his dad and I sat on his other side between him and Emily.

The conversation was amiable at first, but I couldn't shake this feeling—vibe—I was getting off of Matthias. Like he had other motives for this dinner.

"So Matthias," My dad started, from the head of the table, "What do you do?"

"I'm an architect," He answered immediately, almost rehearsed...

I felt Alex's hand slip on the table but he composed himself.

"Really?" My dad asked, "How are you finding the business here?"

Matthias shrugged sheepishly, "It's really more toward the other counties nearby. Beacon Hills just had the better school rating so I decided we should live here."

"That's very considerate," My mom commented, "Usually parents don't take schools into account."

"Emily mentioned you moved here not long ago," Matthias mentioned, his accent thick, "Where from?"

"Portland," My dad answered lightly, "Paula and I grew up here so when I got laid off we decided to try our luck here."

Emily and Alex shared a look over my head that they thought I didn't notice.

My feeling was getting worse and worse.

"Do you like it at Beacon Hills High, Jessie?" Matthias asked me.

I jolted out of my thoughts and nodded, "Yeah. It's a good school."

"I am very grateful to you for helping my children get settled in so well," He praised again, "I was worried this move would be hard on them—but you've made it quite...easy."

Something told me he wasn't really talking about the move.

* * *

Isaac tried to focus. He really did. But each move and each ploy to get Derek off guard failed as Derek easily slammed him into the ground.

Again.

And again.

And again.

On this try, Erica lept from on top of the train and landed on Derek's back. But he easily foiled her attempts and slammed her on the ground next to Isaac.

"Does anyone wanna try not being completely predictable?" Derek asked sarcastically.

Erica pounced on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and smashing her lips to his. He caught her as she devoured his mouth. But a flash of a certain brunette from a bakery entered his mind and he flipped the beta off of him, wiping his mouth, "That's the last time you do that."

"Why? Because I'm a beta?" Erica asked bitterly.

"No, because I have someone else in mind for you," He told her, then looked at Isaac, "I'm not teaching you to fight. I'm teaching you how to survive! And if you can't focus now—you'd be dead in seconds when the Argents get a hold of you."

Isaac glowered up at him before shoving off of the floor and marching into the train, seating himself on one of the seats. He sighed and dug his face into his hands in frustration.

He heard Derek walk in and stand by his side, "I know what happened with Jessie was rough."

Isaac laughed sardonically, "Rough? Rough is remembering you have a test you didn't study for the morning of. Rough is lacrosse practice. Rough is running from the cops because they think I killed my dad. This isn't rough, Derek, this is torment. I took the bite for her—okay? To protect her and to be with her without her worrying about me. And now—I've lost her."

Derek sighed, sitting down across from the teen wolf, "No you haven't. She obviously still cares about you. She just doesn't agree with you. Have you tried talking to her?"

Isaac laid back against the seat and shook his head, "I can't get her alone. I'm still a wanted fugitive."

"Then wait," Derek stood, "And in the mean time—think of something to say that won't make it worse."

* * *

Marissa checked on the timer sitting on her counter as she waited for the cookies to be done cooking. There was a knock at the door and she checked the clock—it was nearly nine am. She shrugged and went to peer out the peephole. She held back her gasp when she saw Derek Hale standing there with his hands shoved in his leather jacket pockets sheepishly.

Marissa yanked her apartment door open, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You said I could come by to talk," Derek said 'innocently'.

"Yeah... a month ago," Marissa pointed out.

Derek had the decency to look embarrassed, "I've been busy."

"You must have been," Marissa commented, before she sighed, "You wanna come in?"

Derek half-smiled, "Sure."

* * *

After Stiles' very funny repetition of a message from Allison, Scott and I told him about what our boss said about the bestiary.

"So the Argents have one?" Stiles asked, "How are we supposed to get it?"

"You know what?" I realized out loud, "We might not have to."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked me.

"I might have one," I told them, "I've been reading Amalie Torvus' journal. She mentioned that every Grimm had their own personal bestiary of every single creature the Grimm line had ever encountered. I have literally dozens of books to look through in my room and none of them have been it."

"Is it in the mausoleum?" Scott asked.

I shrugged, "I can go check after school."

"In the mean time I'll ask Allison if she's seen her grandfather with a book that might be it," Stiles said.

* * *

Derek absently chewed on a cookie, fresh out of the oven. He averted his eyes from Marissa's gaze. "So when are you gonna tell me what's really been going on?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Derek evaded, now regretting coming to see her. He could have just left her alone. She wouldn't ask questions anymore and he wouldn't be faced with having to avoid answering them. But she reminded him of the boy he was before he was changed forever.

"Derek I've always known something was up with this town and the people here," Marissa informed him, setting a cup of steaming tea in front of him, "And you."

She leaned her elbows on the counter and faced him, "You always were stronger than everyone in High School, even when you tried to hold yourself back. And sometimes your eyes would... flash a different color—but I always told myself it was the light. So did Paige for a while."

Derek tensed at the mention of Paige, but kept his head down and ignored his cup of tea and half-eaten cookie.

Marissa sighed, "Then she stopped talking about it. So I knew she must have figured it out and then decided not to do anything about it. I didn't push it. Part of me was jealous."

"Jealous?" Derek questioned, shocked, his face whipping up to look at her, his brow furrowing above his eyes.

Marissa blushed to herself and picked at her own cookie, "Yeah—I really did like you freshman year, Derek. It's just that.. when my dad died I kinda lost myself. I shut everyone out. My mom, my friends, you. And I rebuilt myself into this bitchy exterior that just didn't care about the world. But on the inside," she sighed, "I regretted shutting all those people out, and that included you. And then sophomore year rolled around and you moved on." She looked at him and shrugged, "Things happened."

"You never said anything," Derek told her quietly, "Not once. You were always so..."

"Bitchy?" Marissa finished with a wry smile, "Yeah, I was a big bitch."

"I wasn't going to put it that way," Derek hedged.

Marissa raised an eyebrow at him, "Sure...well, you were a cocky son-of-a-bitch."

Derek blew some air out of his mouth with a surprised smile, "Don't sugar-coat it."

She shrugged with a sarcastic look, "I've always been too blunt. And I only tell the truth. You thought you were all that in a bag of chips back then."

"All that in a bag of chips?" Derek repeated with a laugh in his voice, "Do you realize how old that saying is?"

"I always loved the classics," Marissa grinned, taking a large bite of her cookie.

* * *

"Hey Boyd, don't you look human?" I teased the teenager.

He smiled without teeth and closed his locker door, "What's up, Jessie?"

"Well besides the large lizard creature killing people and a war being declared between hunters and werewolves – including my now-ex-boyfriend – and my search for my new identity as a Grimm—nothing much."

He chuckled and then gave me a gentle look, "But, hey, I'm sorry about you and Isaac."

I faltered a little but but told him, "It's okay. I just want to focus on stopping whatever is killing people."

He nodded and we walked off to the cafeteria. I explained that I might have a bestiary that could tell us what the creature is and how to kill it. We got to lunch and he got us a table while I got lunch. I saw Emily and Alex walk in and waved them over, "Boyd—this is Alex and Emily. They're new here."

We all said our hellos and ate and made amiable conversation. I noticed that Emily was giving Boyd some looks and made a mental note to talk to her about it later.

* * *

"He's cute," Emily explained as we walked out of the school to the parking lot.

"Those looks weren't just admiration – they were nerves," I told her with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes, "Okay—so maybe I've noticed him sitting alone at lunch. I kept trying to get myself to go say hi or something but I was too nervous."

"That's so stupid," I commented, "You just go up and say hi. He was alone, it's not like he had people to talk to in order to ignore you."

"That's not comforting," She laughed, "I gotta go meet Alex at his car. I'll see you at the game."


	5. Pool Party

I parked my car in front of the graveyard and set out for my parent's mausoleum. By now I had the path memorized and I tugged the key from around my neck to unlock it. I tip toed in, closing the door behind me and looked around. I started opening drawers, finding weapons after weapons that I idly thought I should start working with. I eventually found... absolutely nothing. I sighed, "Damn it."

I stood up, leaning against my mother's stone pedestal, softly tracing her carved name with my fingers. The tip of my index finger brushed the the 'n' in 'Sange' when something occurred to me. My mother's maiden name was 'Torvus'. And who else had the name?

**Ren Cobalt Torvus (Deceased)**

**Wanda Amalie Torvus**

That note I got from the pizzeria. They were Grimms. But there was something else...

The other mausoleum belonged to Ren Torvus. I walked out of my parents' tomb and locked it before standing in front of it's neighbor. He must have been related to Tanya or something. Maybe a brother or a father. I realized I didn't have a key, so I looked around to make sure I was alone. I channeled myself and my weird strength and tugged on the chains until they gave way and broke, falling from the door handles. I roughly pulled it open and walked in.

There was no casket that I could see. But there was a door, like one that would lead to a basement, in the floor. I pulled it open and found a set of stone stairs leading into a darkness. I ran a hand through my hair and started to walked down the stairs carefully. I thought I would have needed a flashlight or something but in this pitch black darkness—I could see everything clearly. It was weird.

I looked around until I saw a marble casket on a pedestal like the ones my parents were in. I looked at the name etched in silver.

_Ren Cobalt Torvus March 24th, 1954 – January 17th, 1994_

He was 40 when he died. And he died a year before my parents did. He must have been Tanya's father—my biological grandfather.

So the note was accurate when it marked him deceased. But I still had a relative out there alive—Wanda. I looked around and noticed there were no drawers down here. So I went back up the stairs. There were almost double the amount of drawers and even shelves than what I found in my parents' tomb. I started looking through them for the bestiary but I found even more weapons. This was getting ridiculous.

I was getting frustrated when I noticed a small hole near the head of the pedestal. It was another hidden drawer. It needed a key. I sighed in impatience. Why did everything need a key and where were the keys? I pulled out the key from my neck, for some reason feeling it may be the right one, and slipped it into the key hole. It fit perfectly and I pulled the drawer open to reveal and huge leather bound book with a a symbol etched into it like a tattoo. It was three triangles intertwined together... I knew this symbol from somewhere.

I opened the book and started flipping through the pages, seeing hundreds of drawings and descriptions. This was it! I found the Grimm Bestiary! I gave a little shout of triumph and put the book in my empty book bag.

When I walked out of the tomb I was ready to leave for home to get ready for the game tonight. But something stopped me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I shivered as my feet pulled me in the opposite direction. They weren't following a direct path, more like pushed down dirt from previous feet walking over it.

I shocked myself when I found it—the garden Isaac took me to on our date before formal. Memories of that night ran through my head.

_"Okay, open your eyes."_

_I opened my eyes and gasped, "Oh my god," the sight was beautiful. There were purple, pink and blue flowers with fresh cut grass and a small creek with a vast forest of trees on the other side. "This is amazing.."_

_Isaac smiled, proud of himself, "Part of work in the graveyard is maintaining this place. Not a lot of people know it's here because it can be hard to find. I thought since we met in the cemetery that this might be a good place to have a date."_

_I smiled widely, feeling a fury of butterflies erupt in my stomach and warmth spread through my body, "This is perfect, Isaac."_

_He nervously gestured to the blanket, "Shall we?"_

_I smiled and nodded, going to sit on the blanket. Isaac sat next to me and opened the basket, "I have ham and cheese-"_

_"My favorite," I interjected with a smile. He remembered._

_He nodded and smiled, "And roast beef for me. I also packed strawberries and-"_

_"Chocolate?" I interrupted with a cheeky grin._

_Isaac huffed playfully, "Am I that predictable?"_

_"That depends on whether or not I'm right."_

_Isaac muttered something under his breath and pulled out a bar of chocolate._

_I laughed in victory and leaned forward to kiss him, "Thank you."_

I sat down in the exact spot he had laid the blanket and folded my knees up to my chest. Tears streaming down my face as other memories flooded my mind.

_I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going and I ran into a body. I gasped, my book bag falling open and notebooks falling out._

_"I-I'm s-sorry," the body said, a boy._

_I looked up. He was cute. With blue eyes and curly brown tufts of hair on his head. His face was pale and his cheekbones high yet soft. He looked scared and shy. I smiled at him, "No, I wasn't looking where I was going. My bad."_

_I started to gather my stuff and he bent down to help me. He picked up the envelope that had fallen on the floor and he held it out to me, "Here." I took it with a grateful smile, "Thank you," and shoved it into my bag._

I put my face into my jean clad knees, feeling the wetness soak into the fabric.

_He wrapped his arms around my waist and I wrapped mine around his neck and laid my head on his chest. We weren't as pressed together or fast moving – practically grinding. This dance was sweeter and more intimate. He pulled my head up to press his forehead against mine and we smiled at each other._

_He murmured, "This is nice."_

_I nodded, "It feels nice."_

_"You know..." He started, in a soft voice, "You're the only girl that's given me the time of day."_

_I smirked, trying to make the situation lighter, "I have good taste."_

_"I know we just met and all," He trailed off, "But can I kiss you?"_

My fingers ghosted over my lips, remembering every kiss we shared.

_I shrugged, "I'll take that kiss now."_

_He peered down at me and leaned toward me, "You sure?"_

_"Stop thinking so much," I whispered, grabbing his shirt collar and pulling his face down so his lips could meet mine. The kiss was sweet and chaste and when we pulled away we had matching grins on our faces._

I wrapped my arms tighter around myself.

_"So you're not mad at me for keeping this all from you?" I asked._

_He shook his head, "Of course not. You were protecting me and your friends. And it wasn't your secret to go around telling people. You are still the most beautiful girl in the world to me."_

_"I love you," I said for the first time._

_Isaac gaped dumbly at me for a moment before the brightest smile illuminated his face, "I love you too, Jessie."_

_We pressed our lips together and smiled._

Sobs wracked my body.

THIRD PERSON

Isaac forced himself to stay in place behind a tree as he watched Jessie sob on the grass for as long as he could. But he couldn't hold himself back any longer and he strode into the clearing, "Jessie."

Jessie gasped, shooting onto her feet and frantically wiping under her eyes, "What—what? What could you possibly want, Isaac?"

"Just to talk," Isaac requested, "Please."

"There's nothing to talk about," Jessie cleared her throat and sniffed, "There's nothing to say or do that can fix this."

"Please—just let me explain," Isaac pleaded, "I did it for you—to be strong enough to take care of myself so you didn't have to worry about me. Because I could see that you were. I wanted to finally have the power to defend myself from my dad. Not to have to endure him beating me up and locking me in that damned refrigerator."

Jessie quieted, looking down at the grass.

"And I wanted to be able to protect you," Isaac said softly, "I know you have 'powers'. But I thought—with the bite—I could protect you while you were still coming into them."

"That may have been your justification, Isaac," She said quietly, "But that wasn't your motive. You felt weak and you wanted power and now it's gone to your head—that's all. I know that my Isaac, the sweet, shy and a little insecure boy I fell for is still there somewhere but... I can't see him anymore."

She picked up her bag and started walking toward the 'path' but Isaac blocked her way and took her into his arms, cupping her face in his hands and making her look him in the eyes, "He's here—the boy you fell in love with is still here. I'm right here."

Jessie sniffed slightly as a couple tears fell from her eyes, "Somewhere deep down—I'm sure that's true," and wrenched herself from his grip so she could leave. Leaving a frozen Isaac in her wake – in their spot.

* * *

"Honey?" Paula knocked on Jessie's open door and stepped inside.

Jessie stripped off her shirt and replaced it, "Yeah, mom?"

"Are you okay?" Paula asked in concern, "I know the breakup must be hard on you."

"I broke up with him," Jessie stated in denial as she packed her purse.

"That doesn't mean it didn't hurt you," Paula reasoned, gently taking her daughter by the shoulders, "You know how on those TV shows you watch about teen vampires and what not, the parents are always clueless about what's going on with their kids?"

"Yeah..." Jessie acknowledged hesitantly.

"Well," Paula started, "A parent is never as clueless as you think they are. We always know when something's not right and if we care enough we always figure it out."

"What are you getting at mom?" Jessie asked, now worried her mother found out about werewolves and hunters and all that.

"I mean that I know things have been rough on you," Paula said softly, "And I know that you weren't telling the whole truth about what happened at the video store or the school or at formal. Even about the break up with Isaac. But I also know that I raised my daughter right," She brushed a strand of hair away from Jessie's face maternally, "And I know that you haven't been doing anything wrong and I trust you."

Jessie wanted to tell her mother everything. Everything about werewolves, hunters and Grimm and her powers. But all she could think about was the danger of knowledge. "Mom—if I could tell you-"

"I understand, honey," Paula smiled at her consolingly, "All I care about is if you're safe. If ever you're not, I want to know what's going on."

Jessie nodded.

* * *

JPOV

I texted Stiles and Allison that I found my family's bestiary so they didn't have to run the risk of stealing Gerard's. I left home once I change into something warmer.

I picked up Boyd on the way to the lacrosse semi-finals.

"You know I've never actually been to a game?" Boyd commented.

"Why not?" I asked him, "They're awesome. You'd actually be perfect for the team."

"I don't know about that..."

I smirked, "Well at least a certain blonde hyperactive cutie would agree with me."

"What are you talking about?" Boyd asked, not wanting to seem eager.

I idly tapped my fingers on the steering wheel, "Emily is totally into you. She told me she noticed you sitting alone at lunch since her first day and wanted to talk to you but she was to shy."

"That girl was too shy?" Boyd asked dubiously, "At the rate she talks, I'm surprised she hasn't met the whole school."

I laughed with him, agreeing, "This is true."

* * *

THIRD PERSON POV

"Come on, is that thing even a teenager?" Coach yelled as a huge guy on the other team pummeled Beacon Hills Boys. He looked like he was on steroids. "I wanna see a birth certificate." Coach sat next to Stiles on the bench, "Who or what is that genetic experiment gone wrong?"

"Eddie Abramovitz," Stiles stated, "They call him... The Abomination."

"Oh, that's cute," Coach commented sarcastically.

Jessie sat with Boyd and Emily in the front row. She had her book on her lap looking through it, she was about three fourths of the way through. Boyd peered over her shoulder, "What are you doing again?"

Jessie glanced at Emily to make sure the girl wasn't listening to them. The blonde was paying vivid attention to the game so Jessie answered him, "In here is every monster my family has encountered. I'm trying to figure out what's been killing people based on Stiles' description."

"Anything so far?" Boyd asked, slightly worried.

"That's the thing," Jessie started, "There's many things that fit so far. I have to find a way to narrow it down."

"What about the fact that it paralyzes people?" Boyd mentioned.

Jessie looked up, thinking on it, "...that narrows it down to four things so far. Thanks Boyd."

"No problem," He answered, going back to flirting with Emily.

The audience clapped as two Beacon Hills players were taken away on stretchers.

Jessie shuddered, getting a really bad feeling. She stood up of her own accord and looked to the trees and saw Derek standing there with Erica, waiting. She knew he wanted to talk to Stiles. So she whispered, knowing the wolves would hear, "Not here."

She grabbed Stiles' shoulder off the bench and dragged him to sneak away into the school.

Coach kneeled in front of Danny, holding up two fingers, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"...Four..." Danny answered dazedly.

Coach frowned, "Say two."

Danny blinked, "Two?"

Coach grinned and slapped his back, "Perfect, get out there, come on." Danny confusedly jogged back onto the field, "Get out there and have a stick."

"We're still short one player, Coach," Another player called out.

Coach inwardly cursed, "Where's Stilinski? Where's Stilinski?" He looked around frantically until he saw Boyd sitting with Emily in the front row and pointed at the bulky teenager, "You! You!" Boyd looked at him lazily. "You play lacrosse?"

Boyd was surprised at the proposition and thought to himself – maybe this was a way to get some new friends – so he stood and stripped off his jacket, handing it to Emily who smiled up at him, "Beat 'em up."

Coach laughed maniacally, "Oh, ha ha ha ha! We got ourselves a player!"

Jessie led Stiles to the pools where Derek was waiting with a basketball in his hands and Erica as his sidekick. "Stiles."

"Derek."

"What did you see at the mechanics garage?" Derek asked nonchalantly.

"Uh," Stiles started, and Jessie knew he had something sarcastic to say, "several alarming EPA violations that I'm seriously considering reporting." He flinched when Derek dug his wolf nails into the basketball and deflated it in seconds, "Holy God."

"Let's try that again," Derek said.

Jessie interrupted, "Derek, shut up. I'm already on the case, okay?" She said with unknown attitude that surprised everyone. But she was getting impatient with everybody and increasingly angry and frustrated. "Stiles already gave me a description – because I'm the good guy – and I've been looking through my family's bestiary," she held up the large tome before putting it back in her bag, "So far there's at least a dozen things it could be and with Boyd's help, I've narrowed it down a little."

Derek and Erica didn't seem to be listening to that last part, their eyes wide and staring at something above them. "What—what are you looking at?" Jessie asked impatiently and turned around, gasping so loud it echoed across the pool room.

On the stair railing above her was the exact monster they were looking for. It had dark, scaly skin with yellow slitted eyes – reptilian like – and sharp teeth in pink gums and a strong looking tail, slithering behind it.

Stiles gripped Jessie's hand on instinct. The thing hissed loudly, landing on the floor and instantly whacking Erica against the wall, knocking her out. "Run!" Derek shouted but the tail of the thing already whipped out and cut the back of Jessie's neck. She didn't even feel it but the next thing she knew she was falling – Derek caught her and she gasped, "I can't move..."

Derek carried her bridal style behind Stiles as they ran in between two pools. The thing ran after them and smacked into Derek, causing both him and a paralyzed Jessie into the water. Derek lost hold of her body and she sank into the ground, freaking out. She was terrified of the water. Derek swam as fast as he could to get her and pull her up to the surface of the water.

She gasped for air once their heads were above water and started panicking, "Oh my god—oh my god. Get me outta here—I can't be in here—please!" It was starting to get difficult to breathe as her throat started closing in.

"What's wrong!?" Derek shouted.

Stiles swam over, "She's afraid of water."

"What!?" Derek yelled out surprised.

Jessie by this point was hyperventilating, "No—no. out—out—out-"

"Jessie," Derek grabbed her attention, holding her above water with one arm and cupping her face with the other hand, "Look at me—see? You're okay. You're okay. I won't let you sink—I promise. We'll get out of here soon."

Stiles looked around frantically, seeing nothing, "Where did it go? Do you see it?"

"No," Derek answered, using both arms to hold Jessie up and kicking his feet to keep them both afloat.

"Maybe it took off," Stiles suggested hopefully.

Just then a loud hiss-growl ripped through the air, echoing in their ears. Derek grimaced, "Maybe not."

"We have to get out of here," Stiles said and they started swimming .

Derek stopped shouting, "Wait, wait, wait, stop, stop."

They all looked and saw the lizard creature slithering and crawling on all fours along the edge of the pool.

"What's it waiting for?" Stiles said, looking at the pair behind him. He noticed Jessie's eyes closed and her head lolling on Derek's shoulder. His eyes widened, "Jessie!"

Derek looked down and got worried too, feeling her neck for a pulse. He sighed in relief when he found one, "It's okay—she just fainted."

The beast slithered closer to the pool, placing it's hand in the water before immediately recoiling as if the water burned it. "Did you see that?" Stiles asked, "I don't think it can swim."

"We need to get out of here," Derek said, "I can't hold her up forever."

"Give her to me," Stiles said, holding his arms out.

"No—get your phone and call Scott," Derek ordered.

Stiles looked at where he dropped his phone and started swimming. The lizard creature appeared in front of him, hissing, making Stiles dash for his phone and swim away, holding the device above water.

He quickly speed dialed Scott and held the phone up to his ear.

_"Hello?"_

"Scott!" Stiles shouted down the line, "Thank God—listen, the thing has us in the pools. Jessie's paralyzed and fainted in the water with Derek holding her up but the thing is keeping us in here. It can't swim."

_"I'm on my way."_

Stiles sighed and swam back to Derek and Jessie, "He's coming."

Jessie groaned into Derek's shoulder, "What happened?"

"You fainted," Stiles told her, "Now don't freak out—but we're still in the water. Just look at Derek—keep looking at Derek. Whatever you do, don't stop looking at Derek."

Jessie obeyed dutifully and kept her eyes trained on Derek's face. But she could feel a tingling in her fingers, "I think I'm getting some feeling back—not a lot though."

Derek looked down at her, "Don't worry—I won't drop you."

Suddenly Scott came running in shouting, "Stiles!? Jessie!?"

"In here!" Stiles called back for his attention.

Stiles and Derek swam to the edge, Scott yanking Stiles by his collar onto the floor before Derek handed him Jessie. Scott wolfed out as the beast tackled him to the ground. He kicked it off and faced it, crouched on the floor.

It's tail wrapped around Scott's ankle and whipped him against a mirror on the wall, the glass shattering upon impact as Scott painfully fell to the floor. Derek wolfed out and started to advance as Scott held up a sharp of glass from the mirror.

The beast froze upon catching a glance of it's reflection, staring in confusion.

"Oh my god," Jessie breathed in Stiles' arms, "I know what it is..."

The creature hissed at Scott before leaping up onto one of the stair railings and sprinting across the wall and ceiling, smashing the glass of the observatory and escaping.

* * *

Scott and Stiles helped a limp Jessie out of the school with Derek ahead of them. "I can move now," She told them, leaning against Scott's car.

"Okay—so what is it?" Scott asked her.

"It's called a kanima," She said, "I put it together when it didn't recognize it's reflection."

"You mean, that thing doesn't know what it is?" Stiles asked.

"Or who," Derek added.

"What else do you know?" Stiles asked her.

She pulled out her bestiary from her bag and set it on the the hood of Scott's car, "Let me look over it."

"From what I've heard from stories," Derek started, "It's a shape-shifter, yes, but it's—it's not right. It's like a-"

"An abomination," Stiles finished.

"We need to work together on this," Scott said, "Maybe even tell the Argents."

"You trust them?" Derek accused.

"Nobody trusts anyone!" Scott yelled, "That's the problem. While we're here, arguing about who's on what side, there's something scarier, stronger and faster than any of us, and it's killing people and we still don't even know anything about it."

"Scott you can't trust them," Jessie said, "How are you gonna get word to them without letting Gerard know what you are? And on that note—what makes you think he doesn't already know?"

"What do you mean?" Scott asked worriedly.

Jessie sighed, "My mom just said to me that parents are never as clueless as you think they are. You really think they aren't onto you and Allison?"

Scott couldn't say anything to her—knowing that Jessie's feelings were always right.

* * *

Scott got out of his car in front of the hospital to pick up his mom. He felt someone grab his shoulder and turn him around. He only glimpsed Gerard's face for a second before the blade of a knife sliced through his stomach. Scott gasped and groaned in pain as he stared at his secret-girlfriend's grandfather in shock.

"Don't move," Gerard warned, "Even though I can practically feel the tissue around the blade already trying to heal, you never know with a beta. Besides, we'd lose this perfect picture. The kind old grandfather embracing his favorite grandson after hearing good news from the doctor," he pulled the teen close and murmured the last part in his ear, "That's right," he smirked, "I can play the nice doddering grandpa who likes to cook and tell stories and be sweet and charming. And trust me, I can do it far better than you playing 'average broken-hearted teenage boy'. Are you listening?"

"Yes," Scott moaned out in pain as blood seeped from his skin into his shirt. He idly thought that Jessie was right and he should have listened to her. He can never trust the Argents.

"Perfect," Gerard grinned, "Now, I'm going to need a favor one of these days and you're gonna do it, because if you don't, this knife goes in her," he glanced at Melissa McCall, smiling and conversing with a fellow nurse, completely unaware of what was going on right outside the window-doors. Scott blanched at the threat. "Scott? I truly believe that it's so much easier when bad things don't have to happen to good people. Don't you agree?"

Scott glared at the older man, "Yes."

Gerard smiled malevolently and ripped the knife from Scott's body—making the teen wolf grunt in discomfort and watch as the grandfather walked off as if nothing happened.

Melissa walked up to the passenger side of the car, "Hey, there," she noticed Scott was staring off somewhere, looking disconcerted, "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Scott answered.

* * *

Jessie sighed as she parked in front of her house and got out of her car. She just wanted to go to bed and lie there and never get up. Each excursion and each adventure left her feeling heavier and heavier every time she walked away.

Jessie was determined to go straight to her room but she stopped when she noticed all the lights on in the living room. She walked in to at least greet her parents and siblings but she froze in the entry way. They were not alone.

Her father sat in his cushion chair with her mom sitting on the arm. Baako and Bethany squished into the loveseat. One lone person sat on the four-person couch, right in the middle.

"What's going on?" Jessie asked warily.

Her mother jolted upon hearing her voice and cleared her throat, "Hi honey. How was the game?"

"It was good—we won," Jessie murmured, "Who is this?"

The woman looked to be in her sixties, with a severe expression and built yet slim body. She also looked very self assured and intimidating. She stood up, her back straight and posture impeccable, and faced Jessie, "Hello, Jessica, I am your Aunt Wanda. I'm here to take you home."


	6. Creature of Vengeance

"What are you talking about?" I asked the strange woman standing in the middle of our living room as my family stared.

"My name is Wanda Torvus. I was your mother's aunt before she died and now I've come to take you home so we can be a family again," She said it like it was simple. Like it was easy.

"Okay..." I said slowly, "I don't know who you think you are—but if you think I'm going anywhere with you, you are batshit crazy."

"Young lady, you will not speak to me in that tone," She said forcefully like she was anything of authority to me.

"And you will not come in this house and say you're taking me home," I told her, "God, you sound like a freaking pedophile when you say that."

"I am your Aunt and you belong with me and your family," She said sternly, her hands folded delicately in front of her.

"I have a family, thank you very much," I gestured to my parents with my hand, "It's not like I'm a foster kid waiting to be saved—I'm adopted, you have absolutely no rights to me."

"You don't belong with them and you certainly don't don't belong here in Beacon Hills," She spat out the name like it was degrading to our family.

"You lived here," I pointed out, "My mom grew up here, my dad grew up here—both sets. I was born here. Besides—why would I want to go with you? Based on what Tanya left me with, you abandoned her and the Hales took her in."

"What would you know about the Hales?" Wanda snapped, "They're just a bunch of dogs."

"Don't you dare call them that!" I shouted suddenly, causing Bethany to jump. Baako put an arm around her shoulders. "I will not have you taint their memory like that."

"Their memory?" Wanda laughed in shock, "They're dead?"

"Six years ago a hunter – much like yourself – set fire to their house and killed all but three of them," I told her coldly, "They took Tanya and Wesley in and they protected me—and you're here talking about family? You're not my family."

"You think you know what happened?" Wanda asked, quiet and concise and calculating, "If you did, you would curse those dogs like I do."

"What are you talking about?" I asked impatiently.

"You don't know who killed your parents, do you?" She asked smugly, "It was the Hales."

* * *

Marissa bubbled with uncontrollable laughter as Derek told her the story of when Laura put makeup on him while he was asleep when he was fourteen. He fought the smile building up his cheeks but he was mostly unsuccessful. Marissa sat sideways on her couch facing him with her bare legs thrown over his lap. He laid his hands over her calves but kept them carefully still.

"I'm not lying," Derek guffawed, "It was awful. My mom took pictures and everything."

"I'm sure you were adorable," Marissa smirked, calming down her laughter, "You always were adorable."

"Adorable isn't exactly the word I'd use," Derek argued.

"Then what would you use?" She ask him with comically pursed lips.

Derek shrugged, "Badass."

Marissa giggled, "We both know how much of a badass you are. You should try out a different adjective."

"What?" Derek asked with amusement and teasing in his tone, "You don't like bad boys?"

Marissa blushed, "I did. But there's always gotta be something else in there. That's what makes bad boys so irresistible—the glimmer of true emotion that makes a girl think maybe, just  _maybe_ , she can change him for the better."

"Are you one of those girls?" Derek asked her quietly.

"I used to be the bad girl, remember?" Marissa told him, "But I figured out the hard way that people only change if they want to change, and you can't force them to. Even if you know what's best and you want them to change and be better. Some people can't be saved."

Her eyes had been cast down during her soft spoken statement. And Derek wondered what she'd been through after she left Beacon Hills.

"Did something happen to you?" Derek asked her softly.

Marissa sighed, "College boyfriend. Bad boy with trust issues because of his parents. Sweet one second and just a little bit of a jerk. Just enough for me to think I could change him. Didn't work out that way."

"He doesn't know what he lost," Derek told her honestly.

Marissa gave him a small smile, "He's not missing anything..."

"Yes he is," Derek interrupted her. Their faces were getting closer and closer together as if magnets were installed into their noses. And the next thing they knew, their lips were pressed together with eagerness. Derek's hands roughly cupped her waist and her cheek as she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer.

* * *

Jackson was dragged by the back of his neck into the abandoned subway house by Erica. Isaac grabbed his arm as Erica did and made him face Derek, sitting in front of the car with a piece of mirror glass in his hands. "What happened to you on the night of the full moon?"

"What?" Jackson huffed, "Nothing. Nothing happened."

"You're lying," Derek stated immediately.

"No, wait," Jackson gasped as Isaac and Erica's grip on his arms tightened, "No, wait, I can—I can prove it. I taped myself."

Isaac laughed, "You taped yourself?"

"Yes," Jackson hissed in his face, "It was the full moon. And maybe while you were curled in the corner having a existential crisis about turning into a monster and your pathetic breakup with Jessie," Isaac growled as his eyes flowed yellow at the remark, "I was preparing for the so-called gift your big, bad Alpha promised me, and what did I get? Nothing. You want proof?" He asked, looking at Derek, "Let me get the video."

Derek pretended to ponder it for a moment before shaking his head, "No. No, I have a better idea."

Jackson jolted and started panicking when he saw Derek putting on gloves and holding up the piece of glass, "What is that?"

Derek ignored the question, "You know, Jackson, you've always been kind of a snake—And everyone knows a snake can't be poisoned by its own venom."

Jackson sweated and held back whimpers as Erica and Isaac forced him onto his knees as Derek tilted the tip of the glass in front of his face and roughly opened his mouth, letting the venom of the Kanima drip onto his tongue. Jackson felt woozy upon the contact and his body convulsed as Erica and Isaac dropped him on the floor. He fell onto his side as he lost feeling in his body.

"You're still a snake, Jackson," Derek said, "Just not the one we're looking for." He and Erica walked off into the subway car.

Isaac crouched in front of Jackson's body as the non-wolf's vision faded in and out, "You're still gonna have to do one more things for us," He paused, smirking, "Well, actually, for me."

* * *

"What are you talking about?" Jessie asked dangerously.

Wanda smiled smugly, "The Hales posed as the archetypal Friar Lawrence when they were really the ones who wanted you dead because you had too much power. So they waited patiently until they killed your parents and staged it as a car accident."

Jessie stared at the older woman, trying to gauge whether or not she was telling the truth, "You're lying."

She smirked back, "I've got proof," she retrieved a large black purse and pulled out a manila folder from it, handing it to the teen girl.

She snatched it from the older woman's hand and opened it suspiciously. Inside was a copy of the police report from Tanya and Wesley's death. The death was ruled an animal attack at a stop sign but the coroner ruled their deaths suspicious. There were pictures of the crime scene and Jessie gasped at what she saw. There were claw marks on both the drivers and passengers and one of the back doors right over the car handles like an animal was trying to claw their way in. All the windows were smashed and Jessie wanted to cry at the sight of their bodies.

Wesley's body sat in the driver's seat, mangled and mauled with his head lolling to the side. Tanya's body was dangling out of the passenger's seat, her legs in the car and her shoulders and head on the pavement. She had scratch marks down her torso and her eyes were frozen open. Both of their throats were slit. The back seat door was wrenched open where baby Jessie must have been sitting. But there was no baby and no car seat.

The report said that the baby went missing.

"This report says that I went missing," Jessie whispered quietly, still staring at the file, "So you took me and hid me and then gave me up. Yeah—some family."

"I did what was best," Wanda stated sternly.

Jessie shook her head, hissing, "Get out."

When Wanda didn't move, Jessie looked up at her, now shouting, "Get out! Get the hell out of this house!" Her voice echoed almost demonically. Her eyes glowing a bright blue hue.

Wanda stared at her wide eyed, before composing herself and gathering her bag, her heels clicking as she exited the house, the door slamming behind her.

"Jessie?" the small voice of her little sister echoed painfully in the empty silence of the living room, unsure and insecure, "What was she talking about?"

Jessie gulped in fear as she realized what this 'Wanda' person let slip in front of her family. Bits and pieces of the truth were now out there, and she'd have to put them together or else things could get worse.

"Why did she call the Hales dogs?" Her father spoke, "And what power is she talking about? Has this crazy woman been harassing you?"

Jessie slowly shook her head, "I've never seen her before in my life... but she's not crazy – at least not about this."

"What's going on?" Her mother Paula asked in this desperate whimper that made Jessie want to lock herself in her room.

"Mom..." She began, "You told me you knew I wasn't telling the truth with the video store and that night at the school and there is a lot you don't know that I can't tell you. You said you trusted me. I'm asking you to trust me now. It's better that you don't know until I can figure out a way around it."

"No," Hunter started, "You're the kid, Jessie. We're the parents. It's our job to protect you, not the other way around. You need to tell us what is going on," she could tell he was starting to work himself up sentence by sentence as his speech got more frantic, "Is—is—is someone after you? Are you being threatened? What—what?"

"Does this have something to do with Derek Hale?" Baako suddenly chimed in, solemn, still holding Bethany in his arms.

Jessie crossed her arms in front of her chest, "I just... I've found some things out since moving here. About other people. About me. And I don't want you guys mixed up in this."

"We're your family," Baako scowled, "We're already mixed up in it."

"Whatever it is," Bethany muttered.

Jessie sighed heavily, "Look, I know you're confused. And I know you want answers – I want answers too. I'm trying to figure this out, my background, my history. And it's something I need to do on my own."

* * *

"Derek!?" Jessie shouted as she sprinted down the stairs the next morning in a flurry of pent up anger and confusion. She ran into the subway room, seeing Isaac watching a paralyzed Jackson. Jessie stopped short, "What the hell did you do to him?"

Isaac instantly stood ready to defend himself, "I didn't-"

"I did," Derek said, coming out of the subway car, "I tested him to see if he was the Kanima."

"And?" Jessie huffed.

"As you can see—he's not," Derek answered, nodding at Jackson's unmoving body.

Jessie knelt on the floor in front of Jackson and brought his head to rest in her lap, "Are you okay?"

"No," Jackson hissed, but automatically softened, knowing Jessie didn't do this to him, "I'll be okay."

"How long have you been like this?" Jessie asked concerned.

"An hour," He whispered.

Jessie wiped at his sweaty forehead, "It'll be just another hour or so, don't worry." She used her new found strength to drag him into a sitting position against the wall. She stood up to face Derek, "Derek—tell me it's not true."

"What are you talking about, Jessie?" Derek asked her.

She pulled out the folder Wanda gave her and held out the pictures to him, "Either tell me you didn't know or tell me it's not true and I'll believe you. I just need someone to tell me that your family didn't kill my parents."

Every person in the room stared at the teen girl and alpha in shock. Isaac's arms itched to hold her in her time of need. But he knew that would probably make it worse.

Derek gaped at her, "Jessie—my parents took yours in, remember? They lived with us."

"Look at those pictures! They were mauled by animals," Jessie paused, a lost look in her eye as tears filled them, "Just tell me it wasn't them. Tell me and I'll believe you—I just need you to tell me, please."

"It wasn't them," Derek said without skipping a beat.

Jessie paused, staring at the alpha, before whispering, "Okay..."

Derek walked to her and wrapped his arms around her. She dug her face into his chest as tears streamed down her face. Derek held her like an older brother as she cried. Isaac inwardly whimpered at the sight, wanting to be the one to hold her. Jackson stared at her in shock. Jessie always seemed so strong and determined to help her friends. To see her now—so lost and confused. It was a harsh reality to face. Erica seemed to be thinking along the same lines. She always envied Jessie because she was so confident and beautiful and the boys looked at her. But she was so nice that she couldn't hate her. Right now, it seemed like her life was falling apart like everyone else's.

She slowly pulled away from Derek and wiped under her eyes, "Thanks."

"What brought this on?" Derek asked quietly, "How'd you get these pictures and reports?"

"Uh... this woman, claiming to be my Aunt was waiting for me when I got home last night," Jessie revealed, "She said she was here to take me away."

Isaac couldn't hold back the whine in his voice, "What?"

Jessie glanced at him briefly and averted her eyes to her feet, "Don't worry she doesn't have any legal claim to me. I'm legally adopted. But she said she was going to take me home—I'm guessing Germany."

"You don't even speak German," Erica pointed out.

Jessie looked sheepish, "Actually, I do speak German."

"Really?" Erica's eyebrows shot to her forehead.

"And Romanian and Latin," Jessie answered.

"Wow," she commented.

"I need to go," Jessie said, starting for the stairs, before stopping and turning around, "So far—the Kanima is a creature of vengeance. I don't have the details yet."

* * *

Stiles ran and tumbled into English and sat directly behind Scott, "Dude, I just talked to my dad, who just talked to Jackson, and I've got really terrible, horrible, very, very bad news."

Scott shushed him and gestured in front of them where none other than Isaac Lahey smirking in the seat in front of them, "I think I already know."

"The real question is," Scott said, "Does Jessie know?"

* * *

"All right," Stiles started as the best friends walked out of their class and through the hall, "From the research I've done and what Jessie's got translated so far—the only known kanima was a were-jaguar from South America that went after murderers."

"That thing was not a jaguar," Scott said.

"And I'm not a murderer," Stiles pointed out, "Jessie's theory is that it's shape can vary depending on the person."

"So we're looking for a person who's a snake on the inside?" Scott asked, "That shouldn't be too hard."

* * *

Danny leaned against the locker to tell Jackson, "It took forever, but I found a program that can recover your video. I'll run it in my free period this afternoon."

"Yeah, just let me know when it's done," Jackson told him before the friend left for class.

Isaac and Erica strutted past him and stopped somewhere behind him to talk. Erica confirmed with Isaac, "So Derek wants this done during chemistry?"

"Yeah," Isaac answered, "and if it's Lydia, I'm gonna kill that bitch, all right?"

"We have to test her first," Erica warned.

Jackson didn't heard what Isaac said next but he heard something about a kanima.

* * *

Jessie sighed, walking into Econ, smiling at Allison on her way to an open seat in front of Stiles who sat next to Scott. Both boys looked nervous and sheepish at her before Scott spoke, "Jessie... there's something we need to tell you.."

"Isaac's back in school," Jessie said quietly before they could tell her, "I know. I saw him walk in with Erica this morning, in their matching leather jackets, like nothing ever happened."

Stiles reached forward and put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, "Sorry..."

Jessie lightly shrugged him off and gave him and weak smile, "I'll be okay."

Jackson walked briskly into the classroom and sat behind Scott, "What the hell is a kanima?"

All three of them gaped at the jock as Coach Finstock started class, "All right, listen up. A quick warning before we begin our review. Some of you, like McCall, might want to start their own study groups, because tomorrow's midterm is so profoundly difficult—I'm not even too sure  _I_  could pass it."

"Don't worry, Scott," Jessie whispered to the boy, "I'll help you."

"Okay," Finstock went on, "I need a volunteer at the board to answer the first question. Who's got it, huh?"

When a boy went up to write on the board, Jackson leaned forward, "Paralyzed from the neck down. Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

"I'm familiar with the sensation," Stiles muttered.

"Wait—why would Derek test you?" Scott asked.

"Because the kanima is like you, Scott," Jessie answered, "It's a shape shifter and that results from a bite. Or other ways creatures are turned into what they are. But something goes wrong and they take another shape."

"Wait, could they think it's Lydia?" Stiles asked worriedly for the strawberry blonde.

"I overheard Isaac and Erica talking about Lydia and something about chemistry," Jackson said when Coach Finstock was suddenly glaring at him.

"Jackson! Do you have something you want to share with the rest of the class?"

Jackson stammered for a moment before charmingly replying, "Um—just an undying admiration for my—my coach."

Finstock smiled sarcastically, "That's really kind of you. Now shut up! Anybody else?" The teacher walked back to the front of the room.

"How do we know it's not her?" Scott asked.

"Because I looked into the eyes of that thing, okay?" Stiles answered with a certainty in his voice, "And what I saw was pure evil. And when I look into Lydia's eyes, I only see 50% evil... All right, maybe 60. You know, no more than 40 on a good day."

"Stiles, that's not a very good argument," Scott said regretfully.

Stiles inwardly cursed but relented, "I'm aware of that, but I swear it's not her. It can't be, all right? Lydia's fine."

Suddenly a whimpering and crying Lydia burst out of her desk and stormed up to the chalk board, yanking the white chalk out of another student's hands and dragging it across the board. She didn't look to be in control of her body. If you looked close enough, she wasn't even looking at what she was writing. The teen girl whimpered again, facing the class with her eyes closed before she gasped loudly, her eyes shooting open as she stared at the class in fear and confusion.

Coach Finstock stared at the weird writing in wonder, "Okay then, anybody else want to try answering? This time in English?"

The class snickered as Lydia sniffed and went back to her desk. "What is that, Greek?" Scott asked.

"No, actually, I think it is English," Stiles said, holding out his phone. He had taken a picture and flipped it. She was writing 'SOMEONE HELP ME' completely backwards.

* * *

Scott, Stiles and Jessie walked into Chemistry. Scott whispered to the two, "Derek is not gonna kill her without proof."

"All right," Stiles agreed, "so he tests her like he did with Jackson, right? But when and where?"

Eric and Isaac sauntered into class through the back door and each group zeroed in on the empty seat next to Lydia. Before anyone even moved, Jessie took the seat next to Lydia and greeted her, "Hey Lydia."

"Hey Jessie, how have you been?" Lydia asked, "I noticed the recent infestation in the school today."

Jessie smiled weakly as Erica and Isaac sat right behind them, the teen wolf's eyes glowing angrily at the remark. "I'm fine Lydia. But I did want to say something."

"Well you can always talk to me," She said just as someone walked into the classroom right after the bell rang.

"You're late Mr. Smith," Mr. Harris droned from the back of the class room.

Alex held up an orange piece of paper, "I have a note—I just switched classes around for my schedule."

"Leave it on the desk."

Alex did so and went to find a seat. He smiled at Jessie on the way who smiled brightly back.

Lydia and Isaac and Erica all watched the exchange. Isaac almost growled but Lydia saw an opportunity and grinned, "Looks like it won't be long until you're over the breakup."

Jessie cast her eyes back to Alex who took a seat in the back and looked at Lydia and shook her head, "We're just friends, Lydia."

"You were just friends with Isaac too," Lydia pointed out smugly.

"Not really."

"Einstein once said," Mr. Harris started after surveying Alex's note and putting it away, "'Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.' I myself have encountered infinite stupidity," he clapped a hand on Stiles' shoulder from where he sat with Scott a couple labs back to the left of Jessie and Lydia.

"Lydia, you trust me right?" Jessie whispered. Lydia gave her a weird look but nodded anyway. "And you know about my  _feelings_ ," again, Lydia nodded, "So I've been having this feeling all day. Just... don't eat anything or let anything touch your skin. Wear gloves or something, okay?"

"Okay," Lydia whispered.

"So to combat the plague of ignorance in my class," Mr. Harris continued, "you're going to combine efforts through a round of group experiments. Let's see if two heads are indeed better than one. Or in Mr. Stilinski's case, less than one. Erica, you take the first station. You'll start with-" every boy's hand went up in the air. Mr. Harris was not impressed as Erica grinned, very pleased with herself. "I didn't ask for volunteers. Put your hormonal little hands down. Start with Mr. McCall. All right, next two."

Erica grinned even more as Scott and Allison both looked down at their laps.

For the first station, Erica and Scott were paired up while Allison and Lydia paired up and Jessie and Isaac paired up.

Scott instantly went into protector mode, "Whatever you're thinking about doing, wait. Give me a chance to talk to Derek."

"Why don't you talk to me?" Erica grinned.

Jessie went straight to work, trying to ignore Isaac sitting next to her, just staring. She sighed, still looking at her work but speaking, "You should learn to control your reactions to things better. I saw your eyes glow while Lydia and I were talking."

Erica glanced at Allison, "That's funny. In school, you guys act like you're broken up, but she's all over you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Scott denied, going to work.

"If I were Allison," Erica whispered sensuously as she slid her hand up Scott's thigh, "I'd be wanting you—all the time."

Lydia caught the action, "Never? You never get jealous?"

"Why would I?" Allison denied.

"Because of that thing happening over there," Lydia grimaced, "That requires some jealousy."

"You're not my type," Scott told the blonde.

"I'm exactly your type," Erica hissed.

"I don't get why you're friends with her," Isaac changed the subject, "She still thinks she's better than anybody else and we're all just insects to her. Even if she's the town whack job now."

"You have no idea what Lydia's been through," Jessie hissed, "And she's just a protective friend. She didn't make that comment because of what you are to her. She made that comment because of what you were to me. She's been supporting me. And she's grown up a lot. Maybe you should follow her example."

"Switch," Mr. Harris rung the bell on his desk.

"Listen to me okay?" Allison said urgently, "Don't talk to Erica or Isaac."

"Why?" Lydia asked warily.

"Just don't," Allison told her.

Mr. Harris stood behind the girls, "Let's go, girls. Next station."

Allison gathered her stuff and gave Lydia a desperate look, "Trust me, all right?"

Scott moved to sit with Lydia while Stiles ended up next to Isaac and Jessie with Alex.

"So..." Alex started, "Are you okay with that?" He pointed at Issac leaning out of his chair and on the lab table like a 'cool kid'.

Stiles and Scott shared a look and Stiles went to work while Isaac did nothing, "If you harm one perfect strawberry blonde hair on her head, I'm gonna turn your little werewolf ass into a fur coat and give it to her as a birthday present."

Isaac laughed amused, "Really? I've never actually been to one of her big, invite-only birthday parties."

Jessie looked at Isaac briefly and turned her attention back to Alex, "You've got to be the fourth person to ask me that. And I'll tell you what I told them—I'm fine."

Alex nodded, "Sure. And did the other three people call you out on that lie?"

Jessie sighed, "No, they left it alone. Can we please not talk about it?"

Alex nodded, "But call later if you end up wanting to talk about it."

Jessie smiled, "Okay."

Back with Stiles and Isaac, still working. Isaac mentioned offhandedly, "I did ask her out once though."

"Sounds like the beginning to a heartfelt story," Stiles said sarcastically, "I'm gonna pass, thanks."

Isaac ignored him though, "It was the first day of freshman year-"

"And you thought everything was gonna be different for you in high school, but she said no," Stiles guessed.

"Yeah," Isaac laughed bitterly, "Yeah, she even laughed. Told me to come back when the bike I rode to school had an engine—not a chain."

"Mm," Stiles hummed, not really caring about Isaac's past humiliation and revenge scheme, "unrequited love's a bitch. Maybe you should write about it in English class, you know? Channel all that negative energy."

Isaac shook his head with a smirk, "Nah, I was thinking I'd channel it into killing her. I'm not very good at writing."

Stiles stared at him with a budding glare when Mr. Harris rang the bell, "And switch."

Isaac suavely took the seat next to Lydia while Stiles and Scott lumped together and Allison was stuck sitting with Erica. Jessie sat with a girl named Dana behind Lydia and Isaac.

Isaac narrowed his eyes at Lydia's hands, "Why are you wearing gloves?"

"It's chemistry class," Lydia said simply, "I'm practicing lab safety."

"What are you gonna do to her?" Allison asked Erica quietly.

"Don't you think the better question is what's she going to do to us?" Erica drawled as Allison shared a look with Scott. "I have to say, you guys are cute together. But you know, I've always had this feeling... like I'm a little psychic," she giggled, "I just don't think you're going to last."

Allison gave her a patient, calculated look, "You think you can hurt me by sliding your hand up his thigh?"

"Would you like it better if it were your thigh?" Erica hissed, her nails coming out as she gripped Allison's thigh over her tights. Erica smirked at Allison's discomfort, "Come on. Girl fight in the lab. It'll be hot," her nails dug into Allison's skin just as Mr. Harris called, "Time."

"If you've catalyzed the reaction correctly, you should now be looking at a crystal," Mr. Harris instructed. Stiles held up his and Scott's beaker, looking at brown and green mush on the bottom. Isaac looked smug as he used tongs to hold up and survey a small clear crystal. "Now for the part of that last experiment I'm sure you'll all enjoy—you can eat it."

Isaac held out the crystal to Lydia who shook her head, "I've saving room for lunch."

"Come on," Isaac goaded.

Lydia glanced back at Jessie, who shook her head imperceptibly, but Lydia got it. She shook her head at Isaac, "I'm good—you eat it."

Scott, Allison and Stiles watched the scene like hawks.

Isaac huffed incredulously, "It's a harmless crystal."

"And I once thought you were a harmless boy," Lydia snapped, "But you've managed to hurt one of the most generous and kind hearted girls I know. I trust my friends and I said I'm good."

Isaac glowered, dumping the crystal back in the beaker and looking back at Jessie. She averted her eyes from his when they met and handed her crystal to Dana next to her. Isaac shared a look with Erica, the she-wolf glaring in her seat, very displeased.

* * *

"Whatever you did," Allison told Jessie by her locker, "It worked."

"I just told her I had a feeling," Jessie said with a grin, "And I did—crisis averted."

"You nosy little bitch," Erica hissed, slamming Jessie into the lockers, eyes golden, "You just had to go out of your way to screw things up."

"Erica!" Isaac snarled, ripping her hands off of his ex-girlfriend.

"Don't pout, Erica," Allison mocked, "I thought you were psychic."

Jessie and Allison grinned at the remark while Erica glowered. "You should really watch your back, Hansen."

"You don't scare me," Jessie said easily, "But it's funny—you don't realize how ironic you are."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Erica narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"You used to be a sweet girl—a little insecure, a little made fun of, but a good girl," Jessie answered, "And now you're the big bad she-wolf who just—doesn't—give—a shit." She paused, closing her locker door, "You used to think you were the ugly duckling and every 'pretty' girl thought she was better than you and better than everybody. But now you've turned into the exact kind of girl you hated—a girl who thinks she's better than everybody else just because she's got a new skin tight wardrobe, some makeup and every boy is watching her because coupled with her insecurities and the sudden attention—she'd be an easy lay."

Erica's claws came out and her eyes glowed yellow as a growl built in her throat.

"Don't even think about it," Jessie said before Erica could attack her, "Because any time you think about making a move—I'm thinking ten moves ahead. And every scenario I've played out so far—I come out on top." The bell rang and Jessie smiled sweetly, "See you later, Erica."

* * *

Matt walked into the library where Danny and Jackson sat at a table, "So who do you know that can get into your house?"

"What do you mean?" Jackson asked, "Like, break in?"

"Or someone who has a key," Matt offered, "Who also knows how to edit two hours of footage out of a tape and knows how to loop it."

Jackson thought as Danny spoke, "I could do it. I write my own software, and I know your mom forgets to lock the kitchen door."

Jackson glared as Matt added, "I couldn't done it too," He held up his camera, "considering it's my camera." He looked at Danny and grinned, "Actually, we could've done it together." He started to stand, "All right, I gotta go to my next class, but, uh, I'll be back later to help if you guys want it." He tapped Danny on the shoulder on his way out as the boy watched as he left.

Jackson gave Danny a look. The boy under the gaze got flustered, "What?"

"Got a little crush going on there?" Jackson smirked.

"No," Danny denied instantly.

"Mm," Jackson hummed, not buying it.

"Shut up," Danny flushed, "It doesn't matter anyway."

"Why's that?" Jackson asked, confused.

"Because if you haven't noticed, he's completely obsessed with Allison, so—whatever," Danny answered, "Anyway, this is gonna take a couple of hours."

"So you can't tell me who did the editing?" Jackson accepted the change in subject.

"Is there anyone else you know who can get into your house?" Danny asked.

Jackson caught sight of Lydia strutting into the library with Stiles flopping behind her like a baby duckling. "Yeah. Actually, I do."

* * *

Jessie and Allison sat in the corner of the library, peering at the Grimm bestiary. Jessie rubbed her eyes, "Okay—let's see... 'Like the wolf, its power is greatest at the moon's peak.'"

"That's why it has to be either Jackson or Lydia..." Allison murmured, "Because they were bitten by alphas?"

Jessie shrugged, "I think so... 'the kanima is a social creature, but where the wolf seeks a pack, the kanima seeks... a master."

"A master?" Allison gasped.

"Someone's controlling it," Jessie realized out loud.


	7. Nothing is as it Seems

"We need to keep Lydia on watch as much as possible," Scott said as the group of teens met behind the bleachers during lacrosse practice.

"I can invite her over for a sleep over," Allison offered.

Scott nodded, "Good. Jessie—keep finding out what you can about the kanima."

Jessie nodded dutifully, "If it's not Lydia, that only leaves one possible person based on what we know."

"Jackson," Scott groaned.

* * *

Jessie sighed, pouring over the bestiary under lamp light. So far she has a story one of her family members claimed was true. Allison invited her for the girls night too but Jessie wanted to get all the information she could about the kanima.

She heard a knock on her door and then her mom poked her head through, holding up the land line, "Phone for you—it's her."

Jessie debated whether to take the phone and hang up or take the phone and tell her off. She decided to start with taking the phone. "How'd you get this number?"

"I have a vast amount of resources," 'Aunt' Wanda answered in her self-satisfied voice, "Resources I could share with you if you were truly a Grimm."

"Don't you mean Torvus?" Jessie asked a little smugly. Paula excused herself out of the room, not wanting anything to do with the woman threatening to take her daughter.

Wanda ignored the smart remark, "No matter what name the world knows our family by, we are and will always be Grimm."

"And Grimms don't give up," Jessie quoted her mother's letter, "So I have a feeling you'll just keep coming back like one of those stray puppies we fed once and now it won't go away."

Wanda didn't appreciate the simile, but she played nice, "I understand we may have gotten off on the wrong foot – but we are family, my dear. And I'm sure you've always wanted answers about your family."

"Bribery, nice," Jessie sarcastically replied, undisturbed by the notion, "Very nefarious. But never you mind, I've got loads of books and I like to read. I'm very studious."

"You got that from your grandfather," Wanda said fondly, "He always was the fan of research."

"Well looks like it's a family trait," Jessie commented, "Because I also did some research and I know you were either tragically mistaken or lying when you said the Hales killed my family. I've got the word of Derek Hale to back me up."

"Derek Hale?" Wanda cackled, "He was just a child!"

"One I trust with my life," Jessie stated, "And I'd watch your back Wanda. I will always have a Hale to protect me as my mother promised. I'm sure you thought you were coming here for an easy mission—you thought you would find a weak, confused girl with an ongoing identity crisis and you would just have to offer her answers and a 'real' family and she would be your perfect little hunter for the rest of her life. Easy as cake, right?"

When Wanda said nothing, she continued, "Well sorry to say—but tough shit. You waited a bit too long. I've been gathering answers myself and I will continue to do so until I know everything. And I don't need you to do it." With that, she hung up the phone.

As she stood to take the phone downstairs, her cell phone rang. Jessie rolled her eyes and pulled that phone to her ear, "Can't you take a hint?"

"Uh... I'm sorry?" Alex's voice sounded on the phone.

Jessie gasped to herself in embarrassment, "Oh my god, Alex, I'm so sorry. I, uh, thought you were someone else..."

"Don't you have caller ID?" The boy asked.

"I didn't look..." Jessie said sheepishly, "What's up?"

"Well I noticed you were upset today at school," Alex started, "And considering it's not a school night, I wanted to take you out."

Jessie sighed, "Alex, you're a nice guy..."

Alex's laughed cut her off, "No—no. Not like a date. A friendly outing. It's only seven."

Jessie pursed her lips in contemplation, "...what did you have in mind?"

"It's a surprise," Alex answered.

"You know that makes you sound like a rapist or something, right?" Jessie giggled.

Alex guffawed, "Well you are kind of cute... but your heart is taken and I'm an honorable gentlemen. Come on, please?"

Jessie rolled her eyes, "Okay, but mind you this means I have to change out of my fluffy comfy pajamas."

"Oh the horror," Alex called, "I'll be there in five minutes."

* * *

"You took me here?" Jessie asked in shock, "Here of all places?"

"What's wrong with it?" Alex asked, amused.

Jessie surveyed their surroundings, "It's just... I had no idea this even happened."

"Well," Alex placed a hand on the small of her back and led her away from the cars to the food trucks, "Emily says food is comfort, and-" he reached into his sweatshirt pocket to pull out a giant Hershey bar, "Chocolate is a girl's best friend. So I'm going to treat you."

Jessie's eyes widened at the candy as she snatched it out of his hands, making him chuckle. He nodded his head toward the food truck, "Come on, let's get some food and then head over to this spot I found about a week ago. I think it'll make you feel better."

Fifteen minutes later Alex and Jessie were eating pizza and drinking soda on a bridge along the freeway in the woods. They sat under the railing, their legs dangling over the side. The two friends laughed and chatted with bite-fulls of food and shots of diet coke to wash it all down. "So why was it you who called?"

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked with a confused smile.

Jessie rolled her eyes, "I mean that you said Emily was better at relationship talk than you are. But for weeks you've been the one to call and cheer me up. And you're the one going out of your way to make me feel better."

"Well, Emily's on a date with that Boyd guy tonight so..." Alex joked with a shy smile.

"Ha ha," Jessie 'laughed' sarcastically, "The real reason?"

"The real reason?" Alex repeated, "...I feel protective of you. I don't like seeing you hurt."

"This isn't an Edward Cullen thing is it?" Jessie asked with a sarcastic expression.

Alex laughed out, "Hell no! I'm no vampire."

"Vampires are extinct," Jessie said immediately.

Alex quieted, "What?"

Jessie blushed, "Well technically there were people similar to vampires that started the whole legend. But the line died out in the 1940s. So there's no more vampires as the world knew them. But you didn't really answer my question."

Alex thought over what she said—he had to be careful—cautious. "Well, the truth is... you remind me of my mom."

Jessie's expression grew somber at that. She knew this was a delicate subject. "Emily told me that's why you really moved here. You just say it's because of your dad's job."

Alex weakly smiled, "Guess the secret's out."

Jessie placed her soda can down on the floor beside her and took Alex's hand in hers, "How?"

Alex sighed, "Crazy guy attacked her in the woods outside our house—with a knife."

Jessie's hand tightened around his as she whispered, "She was murdered..."

Alex nodded, "About two years ago. She was just looking for our dog—the crazy bastard killed Pogo too. Emily and I were at school. My dad heard her screaming and went to save her but she'd already been too hurt. The guy stabbed my dad in the back of the spine and paralyzed him from the waist down. Emily found them and called the police when we got home."

Jessie leaned her head on his shoulder, "That's awful, Alex."

She felt him squeeze her hand, "You would have liked her. She was sweet and strong like you. Always gave people the benefit of the doubt. Like you. And extremely smart. Her name was Lyra."

"I would've liked to meet her," Jessie whispered softly, pulling her head up to look up at him, "She sounds like a wonderful woman."

"She was," Alex agreed, "Her death was hard on all of us—in different ways. I was a total mommas boy-" Alex grinned, "And I always felt the need to protect her—like I feel protective of you. Emily was constantly compared to her. She started to resent it after a while—thinking she would never be as good as her. My dad though-" Alex blew out a breath, "He was destroyed. He blames himself for not being able to save her. And now he feels useless."

Jessie just sat with him and listened. When someone was pouring their heart out—it was hard to think of anything to say.

"I had to take care of them—both of them. Only recently did Emily start acting like her usual bubbly self. This place seems to have been good for her."

"Has it been good for you too?" Jessie asked quietly, sipping her drink.

"I like it here if that's what you're asking," Alex teased, lightening the mood.

Jessie smiled a small smile, "Good—I like it here too." But was it really the place they were talking about?

"We should head home," Alex suggested, standing up. Jessie noticed his wallet lying on the ground and picked it up to give to him, but a card fell out of it. Jessie picked it up and glimpsed the photo of a slightly younger looking Alex. But she noticed something wrong...

The name said ALEXANDER WOLFGANG.

Jessie quickly put it back in and handed it to her friend, "You dropped this."

Isaac watched as the two teens stood on the bridge and started to walk toward Alex's car—desperately trying to rein his wolf in. This was not how it was supposed to go. They were supposed to kill the kanima and learn how to control themselves and then he and Jessie were supposed to fall in love again. But he may have burnt that bridge beyond recognition. He had no one but himself to blame.

* * *

Jessie sighed into her phone, "So you followed the Kanima to a gay club and kidnapped Jackson because he was going after Danny who he did paralyze along with seven other people?"

"That about sums it up, yeah," Stiles' sarcastic voice answered her.

"And what do you need me to do exactly?" She asked, a bit confused.

"Play good cop—basically," Stiles said, "We'll try to get answers out of him but it's not likely he'll talk to us. But Jackson likes you so..."

"If I play savior without a plan then he may open up to me," Jessie guessed, "Fine—but where are you guys keeping him?"

* * *

Jackson grumbled as he came to slowly. He tried to stand but cuffs on his wrists prevented him from doing so. He opened his eyes fully to see cuffs and chains holding him in a metal seat. He shook his hands to try and get free but to no avail.

Stiles and Scott stood outside the prison transport van and heard Jackson wake up and later scream angrily, "Stiles! McCall! I'm gonna kill you!"

* * *

Stiles shuffled into the back of the van with Jackson, holding a backpack, "Okay, I bought you some foo-"

Jackson interrupted him, yelling fiercely, "Let me out now!"

Stiles gave him an unimpressed look as his patience wore thin, "You know, I put those pants on you, all right, buddy? One leg at a time. Being all up-close and personal with your junk wasn't exactly a highlight of my day. So don't think this is fun for me either. You know we're actually doing you a favor?"

"This is doing me a favor?" Jackson hissed sarcastically, holding up his cuffed wrists.

"Yes," Stiles answered, "You're—you're killing people. To  _death_. Yeah. And until we can figure out how to stop you, you're gonna stay in here. I'm sorry. Now—you want the ham and cheese, or the turkey club?" He asked, holding up the sandwiches.

"You actually think my parents won't be looking for me?" Jackson asked.

"Uh, well-" Stiles started, getting Jackson's cell phone out and showing him the text he sent to his father, "Not if they don't think anything's wrong. Yeah."

* * *

Mr. Whittemore held out his phone to the Sheriff in the meantime. Sheriff Stilinski stared at it dumbly, "Mr. Whittemore, maybe I'm missing something, but, uh, this doesn't exactly spell foul play."

Mr. Whittemore peered at his phone, "It reads, 'stayed at friend's house last night. Everything fine. Love you.' Now, while we're as close as any family can be, there are certain things Jackson has not been able to say since the day we told him he was adopted."

"Things like what?" Sheriff Stilinski asked the attorney.

"Jackson never says, 'I love you'." Mr. Whittemore answered reluctantly, the very fact being a source of hurt and upset for him and his wife.

"Never?" The Sheriff asked shocked.

"Not once in eleven years."

* * *

Jessie closed her locker door and didn't jump when she saw Isaac's flustered face next to her, "What do you want?"

"Is it Lydia?" Isaac asked.

Jessie rolled her eyes, "Did Derek tell you to get close to us—try to get information?"

Isaac's sheepish expression answered her question for her. She pulled her bag over her shoulder, "No dice, Isaac. We were close and now we're not and you have no right to come feeling me up for damning information."

"That's not what this is," Isaac tried, "I don't want how close we were to be past tense. I never wanted that—I wanted the opposite of that."

Jessie averted her eyes to floor, like she usually did in his presence. She didn't like the pain he put her through—the pain she put herself through. She didn't like seeing him all the time and not being with him. She didn't like  _why_  she wasn't with him.

"I just wanted to be strong," Isaac leaned closer to her, causing her to back up against the lockers, "I just didn't want to feel weak and useless as I did when you were being attacked by Derek's uncle and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't do anything..."

"I didn't want you to be a werewolf, Isaac," Jessie said, shaking her head, "I didn't want you to become this cocky unemotional robot who actually relished in the thought of killing an innocent girl—yeah, Stiles told me about that." Jessie sighed, her face so close to Isaac's now, "The Isaac I loved was... shy, awkward, and insecure. But he was cute and sweet and simple—uncomplicated and safe. He was my anchor."

"I'm still the same guy, Jessie. Please," Isaac pleaded, "Just give me a second chance. I'll do anything." He grabbed one of her hands in one of his, their skin tingling at the touch, "I wish we could just go back—go back to the way things were."

"But we can't," Jessie whispered, gently taking her hand out of his, "We just can't." She turned and walked away to her next class.

* * *

"Scales?" Jackson asked, "Like a fish."

"No, more like a reptile," Stiles described, "Um, and, uh, your claws have this liquid that paralyzes people, and you have a tail."

"I have a tail?" Jackson deadpanned.

"Yeah, you have a tail."

"Mm," Jackson hummed, "Does it do anything?"

"Not that I know of," Stiles pondered.

Jackson viciously leaned forward, his hands thrusting up into fists, "Can I use it to strangle you?"

"Yeah, you still don't believe me," Stiles sighed, "All right. The night of the semi-final game, what did you do right after?"

"I went home," Jackson answered, not knowing the importance of the fact.

"Are you sure about that?" Stiles asked again.

"Yes, you idiot," Jackson groaned, "What the hell else would I go?"

"You attacked me and Derek and Jessie at the school, and you trapped us in the pool—after paralyzing Jessie, whose completely terrified of water, you know-" Stiles started to explain.

"Yeah, I know," Jackson snapped.

Stiles went on in his usual sarcastic manner, "You also killed a mechanic—right in front of me, by the way. That was lovely. And one of the Argent's hunters. Oh, and last night, you tried to kill Danny."

"Why would I want to kill my best friend?" Jackson asked incredulously, not believing any of this for a minute.

"Well, that's what Scott's out trying to figure out right now," Stiles told him.

"Mm. Well, maybe, he should be trying to figure out is how he's going to pay for a lawyer when I prosecute your asses all the way to jail!" Jackson shouted.

"All right, well, tell me this," Stiles started, "On the night of the first full moon, what happened?"

"Nothing," Jackson muttered bitterly, "Nothing happened."

* * *

As soon as school let out, Allison grabbed Jessie's elbow, "Where are they keeping Jackson?"

"What?" Jessie asked as Allison steered her to the parking lot.

"My grandfather told me that his parents went to the police, we need to warn them," Allison whispered worriedly as she watched the new cameras in school.

Jessie inwardly groaned, "Of course, just follow me."

* * *

Allison and Jessie parked a ways away and Jessie followed the directions Stiles had given her to where the prison transport van was. Stiles met them outside, "Okay, what's going on?"

"They know Jackson's missing," Allison cut to the chase.

Stiles gawked, "No, they can't. I've been texting his parents since last night," he held up Jackson's phone, "They don't have a clue."

"My grandfather told me his parents went to the police," Allison repeated, "They know."

"Let me see that," Jessie demanded, snatching the phone out of his hands and thumbing through the text messages before she rolled her eyes and surveyed Stiles with incredulity, "'Love you'? You said 'Love you'? Jackson never says 'I love you'!" She shoved the phone back into his hands, "They must've known something was up the whole time!"

"Oh-" Stiles cut off nervously, now holding the phone like it was a grenade. He scrambled to the front of the van, grabbing the radio and turning it on. The dispatch sounded, " _All available units proceed to Beacon Hills Preserve as instructed. Proceed with caution until Sheriff Stilinski's arrival. Proceed with caution._ "

* * *

Alex Smith walked out of his car with his sister Emily and they walked into the house. Emily called out, "Dad—we're home."

"Come to the dining room, kids," Matthias' deep voice commanded sternly.

The 'twins' walked over to their dining room to see their father sitting at the head of a large wooden table in his wheelchair, sharpening his claymore—a double-edged, two handed cruciform hilt sword from eighteenth century Scotland. His favorite weapon.

An artillery of guns and other weapons littered the wall and table of the dining room. They didn't do their family dinners in this room—no this room was reserved for other purposes.

"What's up?" Alex asked warily, not liking what his father was doing, or the look in his eye while he did it. The look of hate and determination. The look of a killer.

"I want to know how the mission is going," Matthias stated 'innocently'. They all knew he wasn't just checking in. They both knew what would happen if they'd been compromised or if they failed.

"She trusts us," Alex told him, sitting down at the table with a cold and guarded expression.

Emily walked around the table to sit across from her older brother. "She's getting more stressed. Her breakup with the beta caused her to lean on us a little more—actually, her and Alex have gotten particularly close."

Alex glared at his sister as their father looked at him in interest, "Really?"

Alex cracked his neck and turned to the older man, "I've been helping her through the break up. She talks to me—she confides in me."

"Is that all?" Matthias asked blankly, "Or is there more?"

"More?" Alex asked, playing dumb.

"Don't be stupid, Alexander, we both know you're falling for the Grimm," Matthias stated coldly, "You can not forget what we came here for. We have a job to do and we can not fail because you're thinking with the wrong head!"

"What's this 'we' business?" Alex snapped, "Emily and I are the only ones doing shit and we don't even want to be a part of it!"

"Do not raise your voice at me!" Matthias growled, "I don't care what you want or don't want to do. When you're part of this family you do not ask questions—you do what you're told!"

"What family?" Alex asked sarcastically, standing up to his full height, towering over his father's crippled seat, "The 'Smiths'!? We're not family—we're soldiers. Mindless soldiers who are supposed to march when you say march and shoot when you say shoot."

"This is war, son," Matthias said impatiently, "And you've got to pick a side.  _Ours_ —or  _theirs_."

* * *

"We've got a new beta," Derek announced, a dark skinned werewolf following him into his cave.

Isaac and Erica's head shot up at the entry and they stood at attention to survey their new pack member.

* * *

"If Jackson doesn't remember being the kanima, he's definitely not gonna remember stealing Danny's tablet," Scott told Stiles, Allison and Jessie after he explained that Danny was recovering a video for Jackson.

"Why would he steal the thing if he doesn't even know what's on it?" Stiles asked.

"Maybe he didn't," Jessie suggested, "Maybe whoever's controlling him took it."

"Like the bestiary said, 'the kanima seeks a master,' right?" Allison supported her.

"So, somebody watches Jackson make a video of himself turning into the kanima, and then just erases part of it so he wouldn't know?" Stiles summed up, "I mean, who would do that?"

"Somebody who wanted to protect him?" Allison suggested.

"Or somebody who wanted to get rid of the evidence," Jessie said, "I mean, the kanima only goes after murderers – that's why it's called a weapon of vengeance. There's a story in it so far but I haven't been able to finish it yet."

"There's something else going on here," Scott said, "We don't know what's going on with Jackson."

"All right, I got it," Stiles clapped his hands, "Kill Jackson. Problem solved."

What they didn't know was that Jackson could hear them from the van. He leaned his ear against the cool metal, hearing their voices echo inside his head.

"We're not killing Jackson," Jessie said sternly, "And if you suggest that one more time—I'm gonna kill  _you_."

"It's always something with him, though," Stiles groaned.

"He doesn't know what he's doing," Scott pointed out.

"So what?" Stiles argued,

"So I—I didn't either," Scott insisted, "You remember when I almost killed you and Jackson?" He asked Allison, who nodded, "I had someone to stop me. He has  _nobody_."

"That's his own fault," Stiles stated.

"He doesn't deserve to be alone, Stiles," Jessie said, "If you won't help—I'll save him myself."

Jessie walked away from the group toward the transport van and opened the door, climbing inside.

"Jessie," Jackson breathed, "Get me out of here."

Jessie raised her hands, "I don't have the keys, Jackson. The best I can do is make sure you're comfortable until I can think of something else, okay?" She reached into her bag and pulled out a large zip up gray sweatshirt, "This is my brother's. He doesn't need it."

She wrapped it around his shoulders, "I've got some food if you're hungry."

"All I want—is to get out of here," Jackson grumbled, "Not to sit and listen to people tell me I turn into a giant lizard and kill people."

Jessie sighed, "I know it sounds crazy... Jackson. Trust me I wish this wasn't happening to you. You don't deserve this."

"Not you too!" Jackson groaned.

Jessie pulled out the Grimm bestiary and flipped to the page with the large picture of a South America priests and his own kanima, "Here—it says the kanima is a weapon of vengeance. It can only kill murderers and it seeks a master. So someone is controlling you and making you kill these people. The same person erased the footage from your tape."

"You know about that?" Jackson asked.

She nodded, "There's a lot more to this than you know. A lot more to me... than you know."

"Like what? What's going on?" Jackson grumbled.

Jessie closed the book and held the cover out for Jackson to see, "This is the Grimm family bestiary—as in the Grimm Brothers. Like the fairy tales. I'm the last descendent of them apparently. And apparently they weren't just scholars or teachers—they were hunters."

"Like the Argents," Jackson guessed.

"Grimm kicks Argents ass," Jessie joked, making both of them smile fleetingly, "But yeah. And somewhere in my family history is the reason my parents were murdered. And whoever did it tried to frame the Hale family. They were trying to kill me because I had some power that couldn't be controlled. But someone saved me and gave me to my adoptive parents. And I may never know the truth. Like you."

Jackson stared down in his lap.

* * *

Jessie's mom called her and asked her to go pick up some things at the grocery store so Jessie left. She was currently rolling a cart down the breakfast aisle when Stiles called her.

"Jackson got out."

Jessie halted, "What?"

"He kanima-ed out and escaped," Stiles groaned, "Allison's going to her dad and Scott and I are headed to the station to tell mine."

"Tell him what? What are you supposed to tell him?" Jessie asked, walking again towards the dairy products, grabbing some pre-sliced cheddar cheese.

"The truth," Stiles said determinedly.

"Are you serious?" Jessie gasped, "Stiles-" she cast a glance around to see no one paying her any attention, "How do you plan on making him believe you? I mean—unless you see it for yourself, it's pretty hard to swallow."

"That's where Scott comes in," Stiles breathed.

Jessie sighed, "Okay—well, call me if you need anything, okay?"

"I will."

Jessie clicked her tongue as she searched for the yogurt Bethany loved when her cart bumped into someone. She looked up, saying, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry-"

She broke off when she saw Matthias Smith sitting in front of her in his chair. He laughed, "No blood—no foul. I was coming to say hi when I noticed you but I didn't want to interrupt your phone conversation."

Jessie shuffled form one foot to the other awkwardly, "Oh, thanks. Um, shopping alone?"

Matthias shook his head, "Emily is waiting in the car. I just wanted to drive by and pick up some things," he gestured to the basket in his lap that help some eggs and milk.

Jessie nodded, "I was actually just finishing up here and about to head home."

"Do you know what  _Krieg bestimmt nicht, wer Recht hat. nur wer übrig bleibt_  means?" Matthias asked suddenly.

Jessie paused, feeling much colder at his German words – and not because they were standing in front of the frozen food aisle. She nodded and whispered the translation, "War does not determine who is right. Only who is left."

"Exactly," Matthias grinned, "It does not matter what you're fighting for—only that you win. Now I know things have been very chaotic around here with all these murders. And I was told about the animal attacks some months ago. But I want you to know who you can trust. And who doesn't lose. Be careful who you choose to trust."

Jessie narrowed her eyes, feeling indignation rise up in her, "Are you threatening me, Mr. Smith?"

"No—I'm merely informing you of the right side to be on," Matthias grinned, "I never lose."

Jessie inwardly scoffed, "No offense sir, but obviously that wasn't always true," her eyes flitted down to his unmovable legs as she started to wheel her cart away, "Tell Emily I said hi."

* * *

Derek sighed as he hung up his phone after talking to his new beta. He looked around the room for his discarded clothes, finding his pants next to the dresser. He slipped them on, but inwardly cursed when he heard Marissa stirring in her bed behind him, yawning a little, "Where are you going?"

He turned to see her sitting up, holding her black sheets up to cover her naked chest. Derek went to sit in front of her with an apologetic expression, "A... friend of mine just called. He needs my help."

"Is he okay?" Marissa asked in concern as Derek reached up to brush her hair behind her shoulders.

"He isn't hurt," Derek assured her, "He just needs me to help him do something. Like morals support."

"This isn't you trying to skip out on me after sleeping together, is it?" Marissa half-joked with a weak chuckle.

Derek shook his head, leaning in to kiss her lips firmly before pulling away, "Of course not. I'll call you, okay?"

"Okay," Marissa breathed in a whisper, "Good luck with... whatever you're doing."

Derek chuckled and kissed her forehead quickly, "I'll see you later."

* * *

Isaac's ears perked up when he heard footsteps and sensed the sweet smell of mint and cookie dough. Jessie was walking into the abandoned subway station, "Derek!? I'm here—now why'd you call?"

"I wanted you to meet my new beta," Derek announced as he stepped out of the subway car.

Jessie immediately scowled, "You turned someone else?"

Derek grinned smugly, "I didn't bite this one. He came to me looking for a pack. And I accepted him."

"So where is he?" Jessie asked, her hands in her jacket pocket.

"Come on out!" Derek called to someone in the subway car as Erica and Isaac both watched Jessie worriedly.

Jessie's mouth dropped open when the new beta stepped out of the subway car. "Are you fucking kidding me?... Baako!?"


	8. Truth from the Snake's Mouth

Jessie gasped and gaped at her big brother—Derek's newest beta, "What the hell?"

Baako raised his hands to put them on her shoulders but she flinched and backed away from him. He frowned, hurt that his baby sister was backing from him, "Jessie—look, I know it looks bad."

"BAD?" Jessie spat, making Baako and Isaac flinch while Eric and Derek watched in interest, "Bad? You've been lying to me!"

"I never lied to you," Baako denied, "I just didn't know how to tell you at first while I was still dealing with it."

"How long, huh?" Jessie asked, "If Derek's not the one who bit you and you weren't here when Peter was loose so he couldn't have done it. I haven't felt another werewolf in the area besides the omega. I can't believe I didn't feel something was wrong with you."

"Because nothing's wrong with me," Baako said gently, "I mean—I'm stronger, better, faster. I can protect you and Beth and Mom and Dad, better than I ever could."

"What's with people thinking this is a gift?" Jessie scowled, "Everyone tells me about the strength and power," her eyes flitted briefly to Isaac before landing on her brother again, "And everyone acknowledges the downsides but no one ever really talks about it and that this so-called 'gift' invites hunters and monsters into your life hell bent on killing you simply for being what you are."

She started to pace a little bit, "I mean—why does everyone think that having powers solves anything when all it's done is complicate things more and more?" She paused, leaning on the stair railing in frustration, "Everything is just shit."

Everyone wanted to say something that would make it all better. But Isaac beat everyone to the punch. He marched in front of her and shook his head, "It's okay."

She looked up at him bitterly, "Nothing is okay."

"Your brother can handle this," Isaac told her, "And so can you. I know you're scared of what your powers may mean for you because you don't know them. You're scared of what they'll give to you and also what danger they could bring to you. But do you know why we focus on the perks of being a werewolf?"

Jessie slowly shook her head, her full attention of her werewolf ex-boyfriend, "No—why?"

"Because if we magnify the perks, the problems don't seem so bad," He told her, "And the perks are a means to deal with the problems. All the good comes hand in hand with the bad. The point is to focus of preserving the good."

"Not everything is that simple, Isaac," Jessie whispered.

"Then make it simple," He stated simply, "You're strong, Jessie, and the smartest girl I know. If anyone can find a way through this, make it simple and come out on top, then it's you."

Jessie looked down at her fiddling hands, "Do you know what  _Krieg bestimmt nicht, wer Recht hat. nur wer übrig bleibt_  means?" Isaac shook his head. "It means 'war does not determine who is right. Only who is left'. In war and battle between werewolves and hunters it doesn't matter that we're innocent. All that matters is that we survive. But this isn't an action movie where good always defeats evil. Evil has no morals and will stop at nothing. That's our weakness. And we can lose everything because of it."

"Our morals don't make us weak," Isaac insisted, "When we have something worth fighting for—we'll never stop fighting until we win."

"I don't know if I can fight..." A tear tracked it's way down Jessie's right cheek.

He brushed the tear away from her skin and kissed her forehead, "I know for a fact that you can."

* * *

"If Jackson doesn't know what he's going," Allison said on a three-way conference call with Jessie in her room and Stiles and Scott waiting for the terms of the restraining order Jackson was pulling on them, "then he probably doesn't know that someone's controlling him."

"Or he doesn't remember," Scott suggested.

"What if it's the same kind of thing that happened with Lydia when she took off from the hospital?" Stiles pointed out.

"A fugue state?" Allison asked.

"He'd have to forget everything. The murder-" Scott began to list.

"Getting rid of the blood," Allison added.

"Yeah, he had help with one thing though—the video," Stiles said, "And someone else helped him forget that."

"It has to be his master—but that's so up close and personal," Jessie intervened, "It doesn't make sense. I mean, getting the kanima to kill people for them is distant and safe. Getting involved themselves is risky and dirty. It wouldn't make sense for the same person with the same mind to do both."

"Well where does that leave us?" Scott asked her.

"I don't know..." the teen girl sighed, pacing her bedroom, "Either someone else erased the video—not the master. Or this person would be capable of murder and just stumbled upon a way to get away with it—Jackson."

"Are you sure Jackson has no clue about any of this?" Allison asked all of them.

"He thinks he's still becoming a werewolf and that being with Lydia somehow delayed the whole thing," Stiles said.

"So do we try and convince him he's not?" Allison questioned.

"If it helps us find out who's controlling him, then yeah," Scott shrugged.

"Do you think he'll talk to us after what we did?" Allison asked, chewing her lip.

"He'll talk to me," Jessie determined.

* * *

"So why do we need their help?" Erica asked, following Derek out of the subway car.

"Because it's harder to kill than I thought and I still don't know who it is," Derek grumbled.

"And they do?" Isaac snorted. But he admitted to himself that Jessie probably figured it out.

"They might," Derek conceded, "Which is why we need to work together."

"You know," Isaac started, hands in his pockets, "the full moon's coming, Derek."

Derek bent down over a large trunk and started pulling out chains and collars, "I'm aware of that."

Erica held up a set of chains and some sort of headpiece with bolts stuck in it, "Oh my, these look comfortable."

"You said you were gonna teach us to change whenever we wanted," Isaac complained.

"There hasn't been time," Derek glowered, standing up.

"But if you have to lock us up during the full moon," Isaac began to realize, "that means—that means you're alone against the Argents."

"They haven't found us," Derek informed as he started to walk away.

"Yet!" Isaac pointed out, "So how about we forget the kanima?"

"We. Can't!" Derek yelled turning to face them, "There was something about the way Gerard looked at it. He wasn't afraid—at all. I don't know what he knows or what he's planning. But I'm sure about one thing. We have to find it first."

* * *

Allison and Jessie slowly walked into the library, cautious of the cameras. Allison led Jessie into the aisle next to the one Stiles and Scott were hiding in and pulled out her touch-pad that held the translated kanima facts that Jessie emailed to her.

"This is everything I could get through so far," Jessie whispered.

Scott thumbed through it, "Okay, does it say how to find out who's controlling him?"

"Not really," Jessie sighed, "Just that the master and kanima are connected."

"And the whole murderers thing is true," Allison informed, "Jessie translated a story about this South American priest who used the kanima to execute murderers in his village-"

"All right, see?" Stiles intervened, "So maybe it's not all that bad."

"Until the bond grew strong enough that it killed whoever he wanted it to," Jessie finished for Allison.

"All bad," Stiles' face dropped, "All very, very bad."

"The kanima's actually supposed to be a werewolf—like Jackson," Jessie explained, "But it can't be-"

Scott caught up and read out, "Until it resolves that in its past which manifested it."

"Okay," Stiles geared up for yet another sarcastic remark, "if that means that Jackson could use a few thousand hours of therapy, I could've told you that myself."

"What if—it has something to do with his parents? His real parents," Allison whispered.

"Yeah, does anybody actually know what happened to them?" Scott asked.

Allison gave Jessie a look. The girl under the gaze gave her an incredulous look back, "I can't say... Jackson confided in me, I can't just betray him."

"Even if it means we can solve this whole thing?" Allison pleaded.

Jessie sighed, "Maybe I can go check on him—maybe if I help him resolve his issues than he'll turn into a werewolf instead."

"Jessie—I don't like this," Scott said, feeling protective of his friend.

"Scott just focus on your make-up test, okay?" Jessie implored, "Don't worry about me."

* * *

"Jackson?" Jessie called, walking into the boys locker room. She heard the water running in the showers and stood outside of them.

"In here," she heard him call.

She sighed and walked around, expecting him to be dressed. But he was naked as the day he was born. She gasped and shrunk back behind the wall, "Oh my god."

"Is something wrong?" She could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"Yeah—you're naked!" Jessie whined, "What the hell dude!?"

"You're the one that walked into the boys' locker room," Jackson's voice sounded right behind her.

"Jackson knock it off," Jessie snapped, turning around to face him, determined not to look down, "I came here to talk to you seriously."

"And what did you want to talk about?" Jackson asked. But he didn't seem right—he didn't seem like Jackson. He seemed different, off.

"You," Jessie said softly, "I think what happened to your parents is the reason why you became the kanima instead of a werewolf. And if you talk through it... then maybe we can fix you."

"You want to talk about me?" Jackson asked snidely, "'Cause it seems like you always want to talk about you – and Lahey. Your powers and your lack of identity and your pathetic little breakup with a boy who wasn't good enough to lick the gum from the bottom of your shoes." He leaned his hands on the tile wall behind her, around her shoulders to trap her in, "You choose a boy who can't possibly last forever so it isn't your fault when it ultimately ends. And you come out as the victim when the truth is that you abandoned him when he needed you."

"That's not true," Jessie whispered, her heart starting to hurt.

"Yes it is," Jackson hissed, leaning closer to her face, "He was struggling with his father's death, being arrested and not to mention the whole agonizing pain and loss of the control once a month at the full moon. He dealt with all that and only had Derek to tell him how to handle it—so of course he listened and did what he was told. And you damned him for that. You claimed he betrayed you and you broke it off with him. You were just looking for an excuse, weren't you?" Jackson accused her.

"No—no," Jessie began to choke up, "Losing Isaac was the last thing I wanted... but-"

"But what?" Jackson snapped at her maliciously, "But you didn't trust him anymore? He wasn't the same person anymore? He wasn't your Isaac? That's a joke! You were tired of your pity project that was going nowhere so you decided to run at the first sign of trouble! You claim he betrayed you when it was you who betrayed him!"

Jessie frantically shook her head, "No! No, I didn't—I loved Isaac!"

"If you loved him than you would be with him right now," Jackson growled, "You wouldn't be here with me..." He paused, grinning malevolently, "We both know what you really want. You never wanted weak and shy Isaac Lahey. No... you wanted a real man. Someone strong without the werewolf boost. Someone who knew what he wanted and went for it." He was a hair's breath away from her now. He felt her mouth start to form words and pressed his lips to hers in a bruising, violent kiss. Jessie whimpered painfully against him, trying to push him away from her. But he wouldn't budge. He ferociously bit at her lips with hunger, trying to force his tongue in.

Jessie mewled against him and found some of her supernatural strength to push him away. She leaned heavily against the wall, panting and sobbing. Jackson landed on his naked ass in front of her, before his eyes widened and he snapped out of whatever trance he had been in when he saw Jessie's bleeding lip.

"Jessie!" Jackson gasped, standing up to go to her. She forced herself not to flinch when Jackson's fingers touched her bottom lip, "What-" he looked down at noticed his state of undress and scrambled to cover himself. "Jessie—did I do this?"

"It's okay," Jessie whispered softly, trying to force her voice not to break, "I'm—I'm okay."

Suddenly Isaac barged in, grasping Jackson's throat and holding him against the wall, eyes glowing golden with fury and rage.

"Isaac!" Jessie called out, "I'm fine—I'm okay, I'm okay! Let him go!"

Isaac growled at the other boy, who was breathing harshly through his nose, "You try to force yourself on her! You think you're good enough for her!? You think you have the right to put your hands on her!?"

"No!" Jackson gasped out, losing air.

Jessie tried to pull on Isaac's elbow, "Let him go! He didn't mean it! Please!"

Scott suddenly appeared out of nowhere, yanking Isaac off of Jackson, "Isaac, control yourself!"

The two boys stumbled out of the locker room into the hall just as Matt was walking down. Jessie and Jackson followed them out as Allison and Stiles ran over to the still struggling werewolves. Erica appeared out of nowhere and held Isaac back while Jessie held Scott back. Suddenly they heard, "What's the hells' going on?"

The teens froze as Mr. Harris' voice sounded as he stalked over to the group, "What do you idiots think you're doing?"

Matt's voice sounded, "You dropped this," he handed Allison her touch-pad.

Harris sighed impatiently through his nose, "You and you-" pointing at Isaac and Scott, then thinking better of it, "Actually—all of you," he stated pointing to everyone, even Matt, "Detention. Three o'clock."

* * *

As all the teens sluggishly walked into the library for their detention, Jackson told Mr. Harris, "Oh, uh—we can't be in detention together. I have a restraining order against these tools." He pointed to Scott and Stiles.

"All these tools?" Mr. Harris asked in boredom.

"No," Stiles grumbled, "Just us tools."

"Fine," Mr. Harris snapped, "You two—over there." He pointed to the front table, leaving Jackson, Matt, Allison and Erica at one table and Jessie alone with Isaac at the other.

Jessie stiffly took a book out and began to leisurely read. But her mind or heart wasn't in it. She just kept going back to what Not-Jackson said. Did she abandon Isaac? Did she betray him? He only did what he did to protect her. And then all the power just went to his head. But maybe if she'd been there for him than he wouldn't have acted the way he did. Maybe if she stood by him and loved him than he would have been her Isaac again eventually...

"What's wrong, Jessie?" Isaac's quiet voice asked her.

Her eyes snapped up to his face, "Nothing—I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Isaac denied, "I know when you're lying—especially since your heart beat rose."

"How'd you find me?" Jessie changed the subject, "How'd you know?"

"I..." Isaac trailed off, hesitant, "I just sensed it."

Jessie shook her head to herself and pretended to read, "Well thank you—but I'm fine."

"Jessie..." Isaac whispered softly, "Whatever Jackson may have said—ignore it. It doesn't matter."

Jessie sniffed as tears built in her eyes as she relived every hurtful truth Jackson spat at her, "The thing is... he wasn't wrong. Some of the things he said—may have been true."

"What did he say?" Isaac asked her quietly.

Jessie hesitated and then shook her head at him.

"Please?" Isaac tried.

Jessie sighed, looking into his eyes, and seeing his need to console her. He always had a way of making her feel better. But she didn't think it was possible this time. She averted her eyes, "He said... that I—abandoned you when you needed me. That I betrayed you..."

"Hey..." Isaac hushed, grabbing her book out of her hands and holding her hands in his own, "You didn't abandon me. I hurt you—and I hate myself for it. But don't for one second think that this was your fault or that you abandoned me."

"You just wanted to protect me..." Jessie whispered to herself.

Just then, Jackson stood and grumbled, picking his backpack up and holding his head, stumbling out of the library with Mr. Harris asking him, "Are you all right? Hey, you don't look so good."

"I just need to get some water," Jackson evaded, exiting the room.

The chemistry teacher stood to follow him, first warning everyone to stay in their seats.

As soon as he was gone, Scott and Stiles immediately scrambled to where Isaac and Jessie were seated. "Okay," Stiles stated, "Now after Jackson's little freak out, can you tell us about his parents?"

Jessie sighed, seeing she may have no other choice, "Fine... but no one tells Jackson that I said anything. None of this is his fault and I don't want to lose his trust."

All the boys nodded, "Okay."

Jessie crossed her arms over her chest, "They died in a car accident the day before he was born."

"Before?" Stiles gaped at her.

Jessie frowned, "Yeah-"

Jackson walked back into the library at that moment, looking pale. Jessie's concerned eyes followed him before she looked back at the boys.

Mr. Harris gathered his things and began to stand so all the teens figured detention was over and started to gather their things as well. The teacher began to laugh maniacally, "Oh, no, I'm sorry. Uh, yes, I'm leaving. But none of you are. You may go when you're done with the re-shelving," He held his hands over a whole book-mobile full of tomes. Mr. Harris grinned, proud of himself, "Enjoy the rest of your evening."

After he left Allison's mother's voice sounded over the speaker, "Scott McCall to the principal's office."

The four of them shared a look as Scott shuffled off to the front office. Jessie sighed and stood to start re-shelving books. Isaac and Stiles followed her as Allison went to meet them while Jackson and Matt started work on the other side of the library. They quietly worked until Scott got back.

"Okay," Jessie breathed, shoving books on shelves while she spoke, "So Jackson's real parents were killed in a car accident while she was still pregnant. The doctors had to perform an emergency c-section to get him out safely."

"They had to pull him out of her dead body," Stiles shivered.

"So it is Jackson," Isaac confirmed.

The four teens watched him wide eyed, not realizing he was Derek's pack until now and cursing themselves for having this conversation in front of him. Isaac saw Jessie's worried face and put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry."

Jessie swallowed and nodded.

Allison was still a little wary like the others but she continued the conversation, "So was it really a car accident?"

"I pulled the report," Jessie admitted, "When he first told me, it sounded fishy and he's never had closure so I thought I could get it for him. I hacked the insurance agent assigned to the case and got the files I needed."

"You're a hacker now too?" Stiles asked sarcastically.

Jessie grinned briefly, "Danny taught me some stuff."

"And?" Allison asked the other girl.

"It was inconclusive," Jessie revealed.

"So they could have been murdered?" Scott asked for confirmation. Jessie nodded.

"That falls in line with the kanima myth," Stiles said, "You know? It seeks out and kills murderers."

"But for Jackson? Or the person controlling him?" Allison asked.

"Jackson didn't have any reason to kill my dad," Isaac told them.

"Or the hunter or the mechanic," Jessie pointed out, "They didn't know each other."

"Well we have to tell him," Scott said.

"Yeah, 'cause that went so well the last time one of you tried to talk to him," Isaac glowered sarcastically, his eyes flitting to Jessie and her cut lip.

"Still," Scott said, walking out of the aisle to talk to Jackson. He saw an open book on the floor and slowly walked over to see Matt laying limply on the floor with a precise cut on the back of his neck—signature Kanima.

Just then a blur of movement slammed into the ceiling above him, making the ceiling tile crack and crumble, debris falling around the teen wolf. Scott's eyes and fangs slipped out as he tried to find Jackson.

The blur kept slamming into the ceiling, chucks of concrete and foam falling onto the ground. A large piece of cement fell over the group of four left in the other aisle. Stiles pulled Allison back and Isaac wrapped his arms around Jessie to shield her all on instinct. The ex's shared a meaningful look that was cut short when the kanima kept blurring across the ceiling.

It swiftly paralyzed Erica before appearing in front of Scott, half-transformed between lizard and Jackson. Scott growled at it menacingly but it slammed it's hands into his chest and thrust him back against the book-mobile, crashing to the ground. Scott stood protectively in front of Allison and Stiles while Isaac stood in front of Jessie.

Jackson stood in front of the black board. His head tilted back and his mouth fell open dumbly, his arm shooting out to drag the chalk across the board without looking, as if all his movements were controlled by someone else.

The group of teens watched in horror as Jackson climbed out and smashed out a window, escaping. They read the white words on the black board in fear.

'STAY OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU'

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" Stiles grabbed everyone's attention to Erica's jerking body, "I think she's having a seizure."

Jessie ran to her with Isaac behind her as Stiles pulled Erica's body in his arms. Allison and Scott went to check on Matt, "He's alive."

"We need to get her to a hospital," Stiles told Jessie.

"Derek—only to Derek," Erica gasped through tremors that rocked through her body.

"Erica—you need a doctor-" Jessie implored.

"To Derek," She muttered, "To Derek."

"She's right," Isaac said, "Derek should be able to help her."

"Fine," Jessie sighed, facing Scott and Allison, "You guys get Matt to help and we'll help Erica."

"Okay," They agreed.

* * *

The teens barged into the subway tunnel, Isaac carrying Erica's seizing body into the subway and laying her down. Derek immediately noticed and demanded, "Hold her up."

"Is she dying?" Stiles asked as he held her body up on the floor. Derek gathered newspapers on the floor and frowned, "She might, I—which is why this is gonna hurt," he pulled her sleeve up and his fists snapped her arm. She howled in pain, arching up in Stiles' arms.

"You broke her arm!" Stiles' voice cracked out.

"It'll trigger the healing process," Derek said, his nails sinking into her skin, blood dripping onto the newspapers, "I still gotta get the venom out. This is where it's really gonna hurt." He ripped into her skin, the blood pouring now as Erica whimpered and screamed out.

Jessie flinched at the metallic smell of the blood and dug her face into Isaac's shoulder as the wolf watched his pack-mate howl in pain, the pain showing in his own expression.

Soon she quieted down, and it seemed like she would be okay. Jessie tugged on Derek's forearm and pulled him out of the train car, "You knew it was Jackson—the whole time."

Derek stared at her, not confirming it nor denying it.

"We have to work together," She said quietly, "But unlike you—I care about these guys. You just bite them for power but I care about Isaac, and Erica and Jackson. So if we're gonna stop him—we're gonna save him, not kill him."

"And?" Derek asked her, knowing that wasn't all to it.

"And it's our way or the highway," Jessie smirked.


	9. Five Minutes

Baako nervously knocked of Jessie's bedroom door, wondering if his sister had forgiven him yet for keeping the secret of his werewolfyness from her. "Come in."

Baako walked into her room and stood in the doorway. She sat cross-legged on her bed with large books piled up on the mattress, some open and some closed. She had her lap top open and her hair pulled up in a bun to keep it out of her face. Notebooks and papers were strewn across the room with sketches of the kanima and scribbled notes.

Jessie looked up and paused when she saw her brother in the doorway, "Baako..."

"Do you still hate me?" He asked, trying to lighten up the situation.

Jessie grinned wryly, "I don't hate you, Baako. I just don't understand why you'd want to be a werewolf."

Baako sighed and sat down in front of her, "It was while I was away in Africa. I took a trip with the peace core to one of the poorer parts of the country and saw some pretty terrible stuff."

Jessie watched her brother intently as he prepared to pour his heart out to her.

"I saw people rotting away from diseases. Children starving to death because their father's left them and their mothers couldn't afford to feed them. I heard screams in the night and shouts and fights when men tried to rape young girls. It was just... awful..."

He sighed, picking absently at his thumb nail, "But I continued a couple towns down the tour and the third town in was so much more different than anything I'd seen so far."

"How?" Jessie asked quietly.

"There was no crime," Baako sighed out, "There was still disease and poverty. But the schools were getting built and the hospitals were staying protected. We were barely needed. And it was all because this group of men protected the community. They were strong and unbeatable. Every man feared them and every child, grandparent or mother revered them as their saviors. I could tell there was more though. By size and strength it looked like they'd be evenly matched if any other men decided to group up and attack them. So I didn't understand why they had such a handle on things."

"They were a werewolf pack," Jessie guessed.

Baako nodded slowly, "I found out one night when a man tried to ransack our clinic for drugs. I was in there with just this girl Marcy. It was her first year in the peace core and she was terrified. I had to make her hide under a desk and breath into a bag while I tried to stop the guy from stealing medicine we needed. He had some sharp thing – maybe it was glass or something. And he tried to stab me with it... but someone else stopped him. He was the largest of the whole group-"

"The Alpha," Jessie whispered to herself.

"And stronger and his eyes glowed red and he fangs came out and I thought I must have hit my head or something. But then his whole face transformed and he broke the man's wrist and said that he must leave this place and never return or he'd be executed for his crimes. The man freaked out and ran off."

"What then?" Jessie asked.

"After that I got curious," Baako admitted sheepishly, "I watched them closely and eventually put the pieces together."

"And you wanted to be like them," Jessie guessed.

"I saw how easily he protected his people. And you had told me about these attacks here. I wanted to protect you," Baako said, "And Bethany and mom and dad. I wanted to be stronger and more durable. So I went to the Alpha one night and asked him for the bite."

"Did he explain the dangers to you?" Jessie asked, "And wouldn't he have expected you to stay in Africa with his pack?"

"He had a large enough pack not to need me," Baako said, "And he told me all about the hunters throughout the world and that omegas never survive alone—so I would need an Alpha. So when I came back home and went to visit mom at work one day... I smelt Derek."

"Derek? At the bakery?" Jessie questioned, shocked.

Baako shrugged, "He was there asking for Marissa. But he left when she wasn't there and I followed him to ask to join his pack. And he accepted me."

"And as they say the rest is history..." Jessie concluded for him. She sighed and shook her head, "I guess I can be glad you're safely here instead of running around in Africa howling at the moon."

Baako snorted at her in amusement, "At least there's that. What are you doing here?"

Jessie sighed as the siblings surveyed the chaotic surroundings, "Research into about ten different things."

"What's that?" Baako gestured up to a list tacked on her headboard.

**Siren**

**Mermaid (Crossed out)**

**Vampire (Crossed out)**

**Fairy**

**Witch**

**Some kind of hybrid**

"It's a list of theories as to what Wesley could have been... and what I might be," Jessie answered him.

"Why are mermaid and vampire crossed out?" Baako asked her, peering at the list.

"Because vampires went extinct in the 1940s and Wesley was born in 1978," Jessie reasoned, "And mermaids didn't really make sense since I'm afraid of water...so..."

"What's your best bet then? A siren?" Baako asked, standing to think of each possibility.

"Actually I was thinking more along the lines of a fairy," Jessie answered, "But the whole fear of water thing doesn't make sense there either—and I didn't get that from Tanya."

"Well tell me about some of the other stuff," Baako requested, sitting down in front of her again.

Jessie hesitated at first, before sighing and demanding, "Okay—there's something fishy about the Smiths. But before I tell you anything you have to promise to keep it to yourself. I don't want to kick up a fuss and endanger my friends if it all turns out to be nothing."

"I promise," Baako grinned at her.

"Okay, so Alex and I hang out at the bridge one night. He drops his wallet and his license falls out when I pick it up. The name said Alexander Wolfgang. And when I went grocery shopping for mom I ran into Matthias and he was being really cryptic and creepy about war and taking sides and how he never loses. It just—just sounded like something Gerard might say. So I looked up Alexander, Emily and Matthias Wolfgang in the Scotland website."

"Let me guess—there's no record of those names. They lied about who they are," Baako growled.

Jessie shook her head, "Just the opposite. I also looked up their mother, Lyra. Alex told me that she was attacked in the woods behind their house while they were at school and when their father heard her screaming and tried to stop the guy, he was paralyzed. So I found the article from her death and it happened exactly how Alex said it did. Crazy guy with a knife attacked and killed Lyra and paralyzed Matthias."

"So what now?" Baako asked her, "They check out—it's all okay."

Jessie shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, Alex and Emily didn't lie to me. But Matthias just seems off. Especially after what he said—he sounds like a hunter."

"But then he would have come after us, or Alex or Emily would have," Baako reasoned.

"Well not necessarily," Jessie started, "I mean, Allison didn't know her family was full of werewolf hunters until this school year. And think about it, my ancestors—the Grimm Brothers—only got into hunting after they battled some witch and then trained their nieces and nephews in secret. Their brothers and sisters had no idea. And then the Argents only got into hunting after Allison's ancestor killed a werewolf that first killed his family. And my family trained other hunting families while they traveled—France, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Norway... even Russia for a little while. There are lines of hunters in all those places because someone came in contact with a monster and my family taught them how to kill it."

"I get what you're saying," Baako told her slowly, "But I'm not getting your point."

"The point is that every family got into hunting at one point when they faced some sort of monster. But not everyone in the family is privy to the fact. So I think that something else happened to Lyra. Alex and Emily were at school, all they knew was what they found and what their father told them. What if he battled something else and protected his children from the truth?"

"And got into the hunting business himself," Baako finished.

Jessie nodded, "If this is true... then at least Emily and Alex haven't been lying to me about anything other than their last name. And their dad must have told them to do that for some reason. I don't know."

"But what are you going to do with this information?" Baako asked her.

Jessie shrugged, "I don't know."

* * *

"So Jackson was getting a ticket to a rave?" Jessie asked, her eyes glued to the computer screen in the front of the vets office the following night as Scott listened for Derek's approach.

"Yeah—he was in a trance again so there must be another victim there—I think it was the girl selling tickets," Scott told her just as he went to unlock the door for Derek to walked inside. He frowned when he saw Isaac follow the alpha in, "What's he doing here?"

Jessie's head whipped to see her ex-boyfriend walk in and she shrunk in a little on herself, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I need him," Derek answered.

Scott's attention flitted Jessie briefly, caring about what she may want, "I don't trust him."

"Yeah, well, he doesn't trust you either," Isaac replied unwavering.

"Well it really doesn't matter," Jessie interrupted them, standing from her desk chair, "Because none of you wolf boys are getting passed the gate unless I open it," she gestured to the gate made out of mountain ash wood that protected from the supernatural.

"Where's the vet?" Derek asked impatiently, "Is he gonna help us or not?"

"That depends," Deaton appeared in the entryway, "Your friend, Jackson. Are we planning to kill him or save him?"

"Kill him," Derek said at the same time Scott said, "Save him."

Scott glared at the Alpha, "Save him," then repeated to his boss, "Save him."

Deaton nodded, "Okay—Jessie, please let them in. And you come too—take a break from work," Deaton said the word like it was such a hassle with a small smile, "Even I don't know what you do on that computer all day."

"That's because I'm good at covering my tracks," Jessie joked good naturedly while she opened the mountain ash gate for the werewolves to walk in. Isaac glanced at her briefly before forcing himself to look away before she caught him staring.

Deaton and Jessie led them all to the back room where Deaton set a tray of powders on the table. Scott, Isaac and Derek stood on the other side of the table and Jessie stood beside Deaton. Isaac reached out to touch one of the jars when Derek grabbed his hand, scolding the young wolf, "Watch what you touch."

"So," Isaac leaned his elbows on the metal table, looking up at Deaton, "what are you? Some kind of witch?"

"No," Deaton said, with a completely serious face, "I'm a veterinarian." He kept looking through his jars and tsked, "Unfortunately, I don't see anything here that's going to be an effective defense against a paralytic toxin."

"We're open to suggestions," Derek told him.

"What about an effective offense?" Isaac suggested.

"We already tried," Derek shot down, looking at Deaton, "I nearly took its head off. And Argent emptied an entire clip into it. The thing just gets back up."

"Has it shown any weaknesses?" Deaton asked earnestly.

Derek nodded, "Well, one—it can't swim."

"Does that go for Jackson as well?" Deaton asked them eagerly.

"No," They all looked at Scott who spoke, "He's the captain of the swim team."

Deaton pursed his lips, "Essentially, you're trying to catch two people," he turned to grab something and held up a token for them to see, "A puppet—and a puppeteer," he set the token down, "One killed the husband, but the other had to take care of the wife. Do we know why?" Part of his tone seemed like he knew the answer and was asking to see if they knew.

"I don't think Jackson could do it," Scott said, "His mother died pregnant too, and she was maybe murdered. I think he couldn't let the same thing happen to someone else."

"Besides," Jessie jumped in, "I doubt the unborn baby was a murderer."

"It goes against the rules that the kanima only kills murderers," Isaac stated.

"Does that mean your father was a murderer?" Scott asked the other teen wolf.

Isaac paused, hesitant to answer, "Wouldn't surprise me if he was."

"Hold on," Deaton started to realize something, "The book says they're bonded, right?" Jessie nodded. "What if the fear of water isn't coming from Jackson, but from the person controlling him?" Deaton grabbed a jar with black ash in it and started to sprinkle a circle around the token, "What if something that affects the kanima also affects its master?"

"We have to go to that rave, Scott," Jessie told her friend.

* * *

Jessie parked her car next to Stiles jeep and walked into their conversation, "There's got to be some other way to get tickets, right?"

"It's a secret show," Stiles said, "There's only one way, and it's a secret."

Matt walked up to them, "Hey. Either of you guys know why no one's getting suspended after what happened the other day at school?"

"Forget about it," Stiles told him, "Nobody got hurt."

Matt gave him an incredulous look, "I—I had a concussion."

"Well, nobody got seriously hurt," Stiles rectified.

"I was in the E.R for six hours," Matt argued.

Stiles began to get impatient, already not liking Matt, "Hey, do you want to know the truth, Matt? Your little bump on the head is about this high-" he held his hand about six inches from the side walk, "on our list of problems right now."

"Stiles," Jessie scolded, looking to Matt, "He's just stressed out. The point is—you're okay right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now," Matt answered her, "So you didn't get any tickets last night either."

Scott shook his head, "Are they still selling?"

"Uh, no, but I managed to find two online. You should keep trying. Sounds like everyone's gonna be there," He told them before walking away.

"I don't like him," Stiles grumbled, "Hey, are you sure about this?" He asked Scott.

"Last time, whoever's controlling Jackson had to kill somebody because he didn't finish the job, so what do you think he's going to do this time?" Scott asked him.

"Be there to make sure it happens," Stiles sighed.

"Well if all else fails," Jessie said, walking toward the building, "We sneak in."

* * *

"Ketamine?" Scott asked as Deaton held up a bottle and a syringe device.

The vet nodded, "It's the same stuff we use on the dogs, just a higher dosage," he set the bottle and syringe down in front of Scott, Stiles and Jessie, "If you can get close enough to Jackson, it should slow him down enough to buy you some time." He held up a jar of black sand substance, "This is some of what you'll use to create the barrier. This part is for you, Stiles. Only you."

Stiles gave him a somewhat frightened look, "Uh, that sounds like a lot of pressure. Can we maybe find a slightly less pressure-filled task for me?"

"It's from the Mountain ash tree," Deaton ignored, "which is believed by many cultures to protect against the supernatural. This office is lined with ash-wood, making it difficult for someone like Scott to cause me trouble."

"Okay, so then what?" Stiles asked, "I just spread this around the whole building and then either Jackson or whoever's controlling him can't cross it?"

"They'll be trapped," Deaton smiled.

"Doesn't sound too hard," Scott mentioned.

"eh," Jessie shrugged, "You have to make it work."

"What do you mean?" Stiles gulped.

Jessie thought for a moment, "You know how in Peter Pan, Tinker Bell's fairy dust only works on children because they're innocent and still believe in fairies and have happy thoughts?"

"Yeah..." Stiles said in disbelief, not knowing where she was going with this.

"Well it's like that," Jessie said, "You can have endless mountain ash and create a seamless circle. But you have to believe it will work for it to work."

Stiles sighed heavily.

"At least we don't have to sneak in," Jessie told him as consolation.

"Did you get a ticket?" Scott asked her with a furrowed brow.

"It's weird actually," she murmured, "One was waiting in my locker today. No note or anything."

"Well who cares? We're going," Scott shrugged.

* * *

Jessie strutted into the party in her carefully chosen outfit. She donned a purple tank top with jean shorts with a Britain flag on half of it. She wore black tights with black heals with golden studs and a sleek black jacket. She wore black leather bands with a watch on her left wrist and a golden triangle ring on her right middle finger of her dark purple painted nails.

She peered around underneath the strobe lights when she noticed Isaac and Erica stalk in. They shared a look, and Isaac's eyes trailed up and down her form, licking his lips. Jessie rolled her eyes and went to look for Scott.

Scott looked around for Jessie and Isaac when his eyes caught onto Allison's – with Matt. She excused herself to go talk to him. His wide eyes stared at her in shock, "What are you doing?"

"You told me to go out with him," Allison said stress-fully.

"No, not here," Scott groaned, "You don't get it. We have a plan."

Allison's eyes widened in fear, "You have a plan? Okay, okay," she took a deep breath, "My father and Gerard, they're coming here."

"What did you tell them?" Scott demanded of her, worriedly.

Allison stuttered, at a loss for words, "I—I told them-"

"Allison!" Scott shouted.

"I—I had to tell them," Allison said, tears building in her eyes.

"Oh, my God, they know it's Jackson," Scott realized.

"People are dying, Scott," Allison beseeches him, "What am I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to trust me," Scott expressed loudly.

"I trust you!" Allison proclaimed, "More than anyone."

"We've—we had a plan," Scott mumbled to himself, trying to think a way out of this.

"So do they," Allison reiterated.

"This isn't going to work," Scott moaned.

Allison's tears were starting to overflow as she felt a pain in her heart at the disappointment she caused. "What do you want me to do?" She pleaded desperately, "Okay, I can—I can fix it. Please, please, Scott. Just tell me."

"Just stay out of the way," Scott ordered her, starting to walk away.

"Scott!" Allison called after him.

"Stay out of the way!" Scott shouted, still marching away.

* * *

Derek and Baako lurked around the rave building, spotting Gerard, Chris and a league of hunters gathering outside the rave building.

"Are you ready for this?" Derek asked his beta.

Baako glared down at the people who were ruining his sister's life, "I'm ready."

* * *

Jessie found Isaac and Scott leaning against a pillar. Isaac huffed at the other wolf, "Why me?"

"Because I got to make sure that Argent doesn't completely ruin the plan," Scott told him, "Okay, look, you better do it intravenously which means in the vein," Scott explained, holding up the syringe, "When you find him, you pull back on this plunger right here. In the neck probably is going to be the easiest," Scott pointed to Jessie's neck to show him, "So you find a vein, you jam it in there, and pull back on the trigger." He handed the syringe over, "Be careful."

"Oh, I doubt it'll even slightly hurt him," Isaac scoffed, taking the device.

"No, I mean you," Scott corrected him, causing Isaac to look at him in sheer shock. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Scott left to keep a look out to the crowd leaving Isaac and Jessie alone. Jessie sighed, "Please be careful, Isaac. Jackson's dangerous."

"I'll be fine, Jess," Isaac told her softly, "I always am."

"I know," Jessie agreed, "But I can't help but worry."

Isaac slowly kissed her forehead, wishing it was her lips, "I got you to protect me."

Jessie slowly grinned, "Yeah—you do."

* * *

Chris and his hunters got out of their cars to meet Derek and Baako sauntering up to them. Chris scowled, "Derek. Back off."

Derek grinned, answering him sarcastically, "Back off? That—that's really all you've got? I got to be honest, Chris, I was really expecting more from the, uh, big, bad veteran werewolf hunter."

"Okay, then," Chris muttered, glaring coldly, "How about 'didn't anyone ever tell you not to bring claws to a gunfight?'" As he said this, all the hunters behind him cocked their guns and pointed them at the werewolves.

Baako gulped, "That one sounded pretty good."

* * *

As Jackson made his way through the crowd, Erica and Jessie shared a look. Jessie gave her a nod and the blonde werewolf grinned, strutting through the gyrating bodies to press herself against Jackson, pressing her lips to his neck as Isaac came up behind her. They spun and and ground into each other. Jessie couldn't help but feel jealousy rise up in her, watching Erica lean back to kiss Isaac while her hand trailed up Jackson's neck.

Isaac slowly worked the syringe into his hand, to get ready to strike.

Jessie felt a chill rip down her spine just before she saw Jackson dig his venomous nails into Isaac's side and Erica's thigh. The wolves fell to the ground, grunting.

Jackson dragged his feet toward the rave girl as she watched over her party.

Isaac crawled toward the discarded syringe, trying to grasp it into his outstretched hand. A random raver kicked it out of the way, making him groan. Just as he got close, a hand snatched it up out of the ground. He looked up to see Jessie march up behind Jackson and plunge the device into his neck. Isaac just got to his feet in time to catch Jackson from falling and help Jessie drag him away.

* * *

Scott staggered outside, looking for the hunters and trying to think of a plan. But he didn't even notice the large SUV come squealing toward him until his smashed into his body with no remorse.

* * *

Scott inwardly groaned to himself as he came too, slowly healing. Victoria Argent – Allison's mother – smiled over his body, sitting next to a vaporizer, "You probably recognize this device. Pot used to be smoked in a rolled up piece of paper. These days, it seems like all you kids are given a free vaporizer with your medicinal marijuana card. Hmm." she held up a vial full of a certain purple flower, "This type of wolfs bane is one of my favorites," she swung it under her nose, her eyes closing in contentedness, "Lovely smell. You probably won't think so."

She slipped the vial into the vaporizer, gray smoky vapor starting to rise from the machine.

"What?" Scott mumbled, confused, "What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Victoria grinned, "I'm killing you."

* * *

Jessie leaned against the wall next to Jackson's slumped, unconscious body tensely. Erica and Isaac stood with their arms crossed over their chests, watching Jackson closely to make sure they wouldn't have any problems with him. The teen wolves heard something and Erica prepared to morph into the she-wolf to 'take care' of the intruder when Stiles burst into the gray back room, flailing his hands up in surrender, "Uh, no, no, no! Just me, it's just me. Don't freak." He looked at Jackson's passed out form, "He okay?"

Jessie shrugged, "He's out."

Isaac stepped up in front of Jackson's seated body and flexed his hand out, his werewolf hag-lady nails slipping out with an almost inaudible click. He prepared to strike at Jackson's chest when the still sleeping boy's arm shot out almost as if some puppeteer was pulling on his strings and he caught Isaac's wrist in an iron-clad grip and snapped it like a twig. Isaac bent at the knees, grunting in pain, "God!"

Jackson's still passed out body abruptly released his wrist and put his hands back in his lap like nothing even happened. Isaac staggered back next to Stiles and Erica while Jessie looked between him and Jackson worriedly, holding herself back from going to Isaac to comfort him.

"Okay," Stiles started sternly, "no one does anything like that again, okay?"

Erica and Isaac dutifully nodded. Isaac panted in discomfort, "I thought the ketamine was supposed to put him out."

"Yeah, well, apparently this is all we're going to get," Stiles sarcastically replied, "So let's just hope whoever's controlling him just decided to show up tonight."

"I'm here," they all heard suddenly. It came out as a hissing voice like what you would think a snake sounded like if it had sufficient vocal chords to speak like humans. All the teens' attention fell on Jackson's body – his eyes were open but his pupils were directed above him to the wall, not them. "I'm right here with you."

* * *

"It's going to look like an accident," Victoria grinned, sitting on her heels beside Scott's body as she waved the wolfs bane mist toward his face, "Like you had an asthma attack and couldn't get to your inhaler in time. Your school records show you have a pretty severe case of asthma."

Scott's eyes flared golden and his fangs slipped in and out of his gums as he tried to fight off the urge to transform. He groaned, "Stop!"

"Too late," Victoria smirked as he wheezed, half-transformed already, "Looks like it's working."

* * *

"Jackson?" Jessie asked softly, bending to look at the unconscious boy, "Is that you?"

"Us," Jackson's hissing voice sounded demonically unstable, "We're all here."

"Are you the one killing people?" Stiles asked, even though they were all sure that he was.

"We are the ones killing murderers," the – decidedly – kanima answered.

"So all the people you've killed so far-" Stiles started.

"Deserved it," the kanima finished for him, basically spitting the words out.

"There are rules, Jackson," Jessie said, "Why did they deserve it? Who did they kill?"

All the teens waited on baited breathe as Jackson opened his mouth to answer, "Me."

Everyone's eyes widened and mouths fell slightly agape—no one was expecting that answer.

"Wait, what?" Stiles backtracked, "What do you mean?"

Jackson's off-center glare hardened, "They murdered me," His eyes turned to slits mixed with the yellows and red of a reptile's gaze. Isaac—on instinct—grabbed Jessie's hand and pulled her away as Jackson's lizard gaze focused on Stiles as the kanima repeated, "They murdered me."

His arm started to erupt in scales, making Stiles flinch and shrink back between Erica and Jessie. "Okay, all right. More ketamine. The man needs ketamine. Come on."

"We don't have anymore," Isaac held up the empty bottle.

Stiles groaned in frustration under his breathe, closing his eyes briefly before looking accusingly at Isaac, "You used the whole bottle?"

Erica grabbed Stiles' jacket sleeve, tugging all their attention back to a now half-transformed Jackson/Kanima who stood and then hissed loudly like the monster it was, making all the teens flinch. Stiles started pushing Erica toward the door and tugging Jessie behind him, "Okay, out, everybody out."

They all scrambled out of the room and slammed the door behind them, pushing down on it to keep it in place. "Okay, find something to move in front of the door." But as soon as Stiles spoke, the kanima ripped its way out the metal wall next to them—escaping into the party.

Stiles cursed, grabbing Jessie's hand and tugging her out of Isaac's hold unintentionally, "We have to go."

They all scrambled out of the rave building, Stiles and Jessie easily crossing the mountain ash line to meet Derek on the other side. Stiles gulped, "Hey, um, so we kind of lost Jackson inside, but it's-" then they noticed Isaac crouched in front of the mountain ash line with Erica behind him, both teen wolves staring at the offending black powder with confusion. Stiles smiled in surprise and self-satisfaction, "Oh, my god. It's working. Oh, this is—I did something!" He waved his arms up in spazzy celebration and, overcome with gratitude, kissed Jessie on the cheek and squished her shoulder in his arms, "That 'anything can happen if you just believe' speech did wonders, Jessie-girl!"

Jessie grinned shyly, blushing, "This was all you, Stilinski."

* * *

"Alpha, beta, but what are you Scott?" Victoria taunted, standing above his crouched body as he futilely scratched at the wooden floor, "Omega. Don't you know the lone wolf never survives without a pack? I've heard the cry of an omega—it's a miserable sound. The howl of a lone wolf."

"I'm not," Scott painfully panted out, the sentence taking up most of his energy.

"What?" Victoria snapped, her smirk fading slightly, "What is it?"

"I'm not—alone," Scott gasped out, arching his body as his face morphed into a wolf, howling out almost as powerfully as he had the night he called the alpha to the school. His howl ended in a miserable cry as he fell, limp, to the floor, devoid of anymore energy.

* * *

Derek jolted a bit at the echoing howl of a pack-mate in pain. His eyes widened, "Scott."

"What?" Stiles zeroed in on the alpha at the mention of his werewolf-best-friend.

"Break it," Derek demanded, looking down at the mountain ash line.

"What? No way!" Stiles disputed, not going through the hard work of making the line to trap the kanima just to abandon the plan.

"Scott's dying!" Derek shouted, anxiously peering toward the rave building.

"Okay, what?" Stiles squealed, "How do you now that?"

"Oh, my god, Stiles, I just know!" Derek yelled at the human, "Break it!"

"Ah," Stiles groaned, bending on his knees in front of the line, gazing at it, lost, before swiftly waving his hands above it. As if a wind picked up, a gap in the line was made. Derek quickly jumped over him and disappeared into the building.

Jessie worriedly gazed after him, wishing she was strong enough to do something.

Stiles stood, looking where she was with concern and doubt. Jessie weaved her arm into his as they waited for the well being of Scott and Derek to be revealed.

* * *

Jessie sat in her car, tears silently falling down her face as she stared at the picture of the rave girl—Kara—on her phone. She looked the girl up. She was the same age as all the victims—sans Mr. Lahey. But she wasn't in the same chem class that the others were, according to Stiles.

The girl jolted and nearly screamed when someone knocked on the window. She sighed in relief when she saw that it was Isaac. Her chest tightened upon seeing the concern on his face. She knew he still loved her—she still loved him. And as painful as it was to be around each other and not be together, he was still there for her when she needed someone.

Jessie unlocked the doors and the next second later, Isaac was sitting in her passenger's seat. They both must have sat there for five minutes of silence before Jessie broke it, "Her name was Kara. She was 24."

"The girl?" Isaac inquired quietly, just to say something really.

Jessie nodded, sniffing, "The kanima... ripped it's claw into her throat, almost tore off her head... her eyes were still open."

"God—Jessie, when did you see her?" Isaac gasped out at the gruesomeness of the picture formed in his head.

Jessie threw her phone on the center console, "I left my phone in that room, it must have fallen out of my pocket when we ran out. I went back to get it and saw police men crowded around her. Jackson's dad was there and tried to block me from seeing her—trying to protect me. And all I could think was... that I should've been there to protect her. She had no idea what was coming for her. She doesn't even get the consolation of knowing why it was coming for her. And fuck-" she wiped at her eyes, "Mr. Whittemore tries to protect me from seeing something I shouldn't. He doesn't know—he doesn't know what I've seen already."

She covered her stomach with her cross arms, as if holding the pieces of her together, albeit poorly, "He doesn't know that his own son is the danger. All he knows is some girl was found dead and that I shouldn't see something like that. He doesn't know that it doesn't matter."

Isaac's face emanated the pain he felt projecting itself off of his ex-girlfriend. It was palpable, "Jessie-"

"Do you know screaming is a sense of relief?" Jessie interrupted him, looking at him with her raccoon eyes from her mascara, "It's why people scream into their pillows or shout when they fight with someone or howl when they're hurt... she couldn't even scream."

"Jessie this isn't your fault," Isaac told her.

She shook her head, "I know—I should know that. I didn't bite Jackson. I'm not the one controlling him. I'm not the one making him kill people. And I don't even know any of the people he's killing-except your dad. God, Isaac—how can you even look at him?" Her eyebrows furrowed in concern for him.

Isaac shrugged, "I haven't really thought about it. Besides... it's not really him."

"Right," Jessie whispered, "I wonder how he'll be able to cope with all this when it's over. At least he doesn't remember... I wish I could forget it all too. I wish I could forget everything."

"You don't mean that," Isaac whispered, knowing this girl after being with her and loving her, "You know that you never belonged somewhere as seamlessly as you belong here. Here—you have answers and people that understand you."

"Like who?" Jessie asked him, "I mean—I can't understand what Scott goes through changing every month and being in love with a girl whose family is slowly turning her against him. I can't understand Stiles dealing with his father slowly losing trust in him. I can't understand you getting abused for who-knows how long and then losing your father in tandem with becoming a werewolf. I can't understand Lydia slowly losing her mind or Allison being caught between her family and her friends. I know it all is happening. I understand the situations but I can't begin to comprehend how they must be feeling because we're all going through different shit!"

"Then forget about it!" Isaac raised his voice slightly, startling the crying girl, "Forget about it all. It doesn't matter. Just pretend it doesn't exist for five minutes! Forget that you're a Grimm and forget hunters and werewolves and kanimas. Forget that I'm a werewolf who was stupid enough to let you walk out of his life."

Jessie wanted to cry even more at the last sentence. Every mention of their breakup brought a sharp pain to her heart like someone stuck a jagged piece of glass into her chest. After lighting it on fire.

"Forget who we are for five minutes," Isaac told her gently, leaning closer to her. Jessie—for a panicked moment—thought that he was going to kiss her. But he pressed his lips to her forehead instead, like she always loved because it made her feel warm and safe. And he knew that. "Forget what we mean and what we do and what we hide. You're just Jessie. A... beautiful and strong girl who always puts others before herself and never leaves anybody behind. And I'm just Isaac... the boy waiting for a day that she may forgive him because he'll never stop loving her. We're just two people, stuck in regular high school angst, looking for a way to escape."

He wrapped his arms around her and brought her into his lap. She immediately curled into his neck, like she used to. Isaac ran a hand through her hair like he would with a little girl. He kissed the top of her head and let her softly cry in his shoulder, whispering, "Just pretend for five minutes."


	10. Moonlit Hallucinations

"I'm saying we need a new plan," Derek stated as he and Scott walked into the abandoned subway train, "because next time, one of us is gonna be too hurt to heal." He landed heavily on one of the seats while Scott leaned against a metal pole beside him.

"Ugh, I get it." Scott groaned, "We can't save Jackson."

"We can't seem to kill him either," Derek mentioned, stuck in a rut of hopelessness, "I've seen a lot of things, Scott. I've never seen anything like this. Every new moon's just gonna make him stronger."

"But how to we stop him?" Scott asked desperately.

Derek shrugged, staring somewhere at the ground, "I don't know. I don't even know if we can."

Scott suggested, beaten, "Maybe we should just let the Argents handle it."

Instead of yelling at Scott for mentioning the hunters, he stated immediately, "I'm the one who turned him. It's my fault," feeling responsible for the monster Jackson had now become.

"Yeah, but you didn't turn him into this," Scott reassured the alpha, "I mean, this happened because of something in his past, right?"

"That's a legend in a book," Derek dismissed, "It's not that simple."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, "What are you not telling me?"

"Why do you think I'm always keeping something from you?" Derek asked the omega exasperatedly.

"Because you always are keeping something from me," Scott accused.

"Well, maybe I do it to protect you," Derek told him, letting the implication that he cared for Scott as a pack mate shine through his tough and uncaring exterior. Derek felt just as much responsible for Scott as he felt for Jackson or any of his other betas.

"Doesn't being part of your pack mean no more secrets?" Scott asked him feebly.

Derek sighed, "Go home, Scott. Sleep. Heal. Make sure your friends are safe. 'Cause the full moon's coming. And with the way things are going, I've got a feeling it's gonna be a rough one."

* * *

"Thank you for the ride back," Isaac said as he went to open the passenger's door to exit Jessie's car.

Jessie impulsively grabbed Isaac's hand to stop him from leaving just yet, "Isaac..."

The teen wolf sensed something in her tone that made him sit back down and stare at her, waiting for her to go on with what she had to say. She stared back at him for a few long heartbeats that forced him to say something first, "What?"

Jessie sighed deeply, "I don't know... you're the one whose been good at saying the right thing. I've only ever been good at arguing. And now I can't really think of anything that'll make this—better."

"Make what better, Jessie?" Isaac asked her softly, helping her along whatever she wanted to say.

Her grip tightened on his hand, "This. I don't know how to fix this... and with everything going on..."

"Shhh," Isaac whispered, bringing her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it, "Whatever you want to say or fix—it can wait until this blows over, okay? And then I'll be there, to help."

Jessie nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat, whispering, "I'm so sorry..."

"There's nothing you have to be sorry about," Isaac told her, kissing her forehead before standing out of the car, "I'll see you later. Goodnight, Jessica."

"Goodnight," the girl whispered back.

* * *

"Okay, Allison, slow down," Jessie sighed into her cell phone just after she got home, "Breath. It's going to be okay."

"It's just..." Allison hiccuped, "Scott was so angry... I disappointed him so much. And Matt..."

"Matt's just a creep," Jessie assured her, "just don't go anywhere alone with him and when you see him next make sure he knows that what he's doing isn't okay. As for Scott, you didn't disappoint him. He didn't mean to lash out at you. He's just angry and frustrated at the whole situation."

"I just didn't know what to do!" Allison whispered thickly, already having told Jessie of her dad showing her the dead couples' body and telling her that she was responsible for these deaths if she didn't tell them what she knew. That's how they found out it was Jackson.

"It wasn't fair for your dad to do that to you," Jessie nearly growled, "To put that kind of pressure and blame on teenagers like us—it's awful. No offense to Chris.. but he's wrong, Allison. Their deaths aren't your fault, none of these deaths are any of our faults. It's the person who's controlling Jackson. It's not wrong for us to want to save our friend, Allison. We're actually better people for it."

"I'm so sorry to you too Jessie," Allison murmured, "I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," Jessie was quick to interrupt her, reassuringly, "We're going to figure this out. And I know it must be hard for you to be caught between your own family and your friends. And I know you feel like you need to choose a side... and maybe someday that'll be true. But for now... the only side you have to choose is your own. Don't worry about what I think, or Scott, or what your family tells you. Just do what you think is right. Okay?"

Allison—in her room—nodded to herself, whispering, "Okay," feebly and weakly, like a small child. She swallowed and sniffed, "Thank you, Jessie. You're the only one I can really talk to about all this."

Jessie fell down onto her bed, "We can only lean on each other nowadays."

* * *

Derek stood over the same chest that held the collared contraptions he'd revealed before. He opened the lid and Isaac caught sight of a symbol on the inside of it, "What is that?"

"It's a triskele," Baako surprisingly contributed. Derek, Isaac, and Erica all stared at him in shock. He scoffed at their faces, "Jessie isn't the only brainiac in the family. You forget that I'm going for a PhD. Spirals mean different things—past, present, future. To Jessie and I, it means mother, father, child."

"You know what it means to me?" Derek asked curiously.

"Alpha, beta, omega?" Baako guessed. Erica leaned down to kiss the man's cheek, grinning with her ruby red lips that left an imprint on his dark skin.

Derek nodded, impressed, "That's right. It's a spiral. Reminds us that we can all rise to one or fall to another. Betas can become alphas, but alphas can also fall to betas or even omegas."

"Like Scott?" Isaac asked, his hands shoved into his jean pockets.

"Scott's with us," Derek said sternly to his beta.

Isaac nonchalantly looked around the warehouse, "Really? Then where is he now?"

"He's looking for Jackson," Derek answered, standing with a set of chains in his hands, "Don't worry, he's not gonna have it easy tonight either. None of us will. There's a price you pay for this kind of power. You get the ability to heal, but tonight you're gonna want to kill anything you can find." He handed the set to Isaac, picking up another one.

"Good thing I had my period last week, then," Erica quipped with a smirk.

All the boys stared at her as Derek held up a collar with metal bolts sticking out of it, "Well, this one's for you."

* * *

Jessie followed Lydia into Allison's room as the strawberry blonde held up two giant shopping bags with a pretty pleased smile on her face, "Clear your schedule. This could take a while." She shook the bags excitedly before setting them on the bed. Allison stood at the foot of her bed as Jessie took a seat against the headboard.

Allison looked down at the bags with an amused expression, "How many outfits do you plan on wearing tonight?"

Lydia mused out loud, "It's my birthday party. I'm thinking host dress," she held up a gray striped dress to her body before setting it down, "evening dress, then, mm, after-hours casual."

Allison nodded along as Lydia set out many dressed she had bought, "I noticed that you didn't send out any invites."

"It's the biggest party of the year, Allison. Everyone knows," Lydia said, not looking up from her arrangements. It sounded a little less confident than the usual Lydia Martin attitude.

"I was wondering if maybe this year things, you know, might be different," Allison hedged nervously.

"Why would anything be different?" Lydia asked her in a tight voice.

Allison gaped slightly, not really knowing what to say without offending the girl. So Jessie jumped in, "It's just that a lot has happened lately. Things may have changed."

"Everyone's coming," Lydia reiterated insistently, holding up a beige flowy dress to her form, "This one's America rag. Mm, I love it. For me, not you. This one's material girl," Lydia set her dress down and held up a flowery printed dress to Allison's body with a satisfied smirk, "It's for you."

Just then Mrs. Argent knocked on the open door of the bedroom. All the girls looked at her as she entered. Lydia, oblivious to the tension, smiled in greeting, "Ms. Argent. What do you think of this one?"

"It's lovely," Victoria said quietly, weakly, nearly stammering, "Allison, uh, can I grab you for a moment to talk? Just the two of us."

Allison looked between Jessie and Lydia awkwardly, "Um, can we do it later?"

Victoria absently rubbed at her left shoulder, "Actually, uh, to be honest, sooner would be—would be better."

"Party's at 10," Lydia informed the woman, happily going back to her clothes, grabbing a blue dress to throw at Jessie, "This one's for you. Blue looks good on you. Red looks better but there are like no good red dresses this season."

"Will you be around before then?" Allison's mom had asked her.

"I think so," Allison murmured distractedly.

"You think so?" Victoria pressured.

Allison shrugged helplessly, "I don't know."

Victoria nodded, down trodden and went to exit the room, but not before looking back in at her daughter cheerfully chatting away with Lydia. Jessie absentmindedly rubbed at her own left shoulder, a prickly deathly cold feeling rising up her skin. She shared a deep glance with Victoria, understanding the importance of her request. She sighed, "Allison?"

"Yeah?" Allison asked her.

"Go ahead and talk with your mom," Jessie suggested as casually as she could, "I can entertain Lydia while you're out. We have hours before the party to get ready."

Allison looked between her mother and her friend, not really understanding, but she mutely nodded to Jessie and went to follow her mother downstairs.

* * *

Derek waited patiently for Marissa to answer the phone as he looked up at the sky that would soon be filled with a full white moon.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Marissa," Derek greeted, "I said I would call you."

"Did you want to come over?" She asked curiously.

"I wish I could..." Derek sighed, "It's just things are getting..."

"Complicated?" Marissa finished for him, not able to keep the slight bitterness out of her voice.

"As lame as it sounds," Derek groaned, "yeah. Believe me, I'm not blowing you off, Marissa. But my friends need my help right now-"

"Does this have anything to do with whatever you've been hiding from me?" Marissa interrupted him, "I know there's something going on. And I haven't approached the subject since I patched you up because I thought... I thought you'd eventually trust me enough to tell me yourself and I told myself I would wait. But I can't help but feel like it's just a way to keep your distance."

"I don't want distance," Derek told her earnestly, "I don't want that..."

"Then give me something, Derek," Marissa pleaded, "I mean—I care about you. And I know something's going on, something big. And somehow you're stuck in the middle of it all. And it's starting to scare me. I don't want you to get hurt like you did before."

"I won't," Derek assured her, not fully believing it himself, "I can't tell you and risk—"

"Endangering me?" Marissa interrupted him again, "Derek, it seems I might be in more danger not knowing. I mean—is it gangs or something?"

"Or something," Derek muttered, "I can guarantee whatever you've thought of, that's not it. But I still believe that you're better in the dark."

"And what?" Marissa asked, "I'm supposed to stay in the dark forever?"

Derek glanced around helplessly, trying to think of something to say so that he could keep her. But maybe he was being selfish. "I don't know what to tell you..."

"Do you still not trust me?" Marissa asked in a small voice, dreading the answer.

"It's not that," Derek sighed, "It's not about trust, it's about your safety."

"It's about trust for me, Derek," She replied firmly, "Okay? How do I know that you're not the danger, huh? You're mixed up in all of this and my gut and my heart tell me that you're good but you won't—tell me anything."

Derek flinched at the remorse in her tone and he could tell she was regretting every letting him back in her life. He should have stayed away. He shouldn't have ever gotten involved with her. He should have known better—known that she'd get restless for answers and he'd be tempted to tell you everything.

"Can you just trust me a little while longer?" Derek pleaded, "Just until what's going on blows over?"

"How do you know that it'll blow over?" Marissa asked him quietly, "What if it doesn't? Or what if you don't come out of it alive? I'm really scared, Derek..."

"I won't let anything happen to you," He swore.

"It's not me I'm worried about..."

* * *

Jessie sighed, flattening out her blue dress that Lydia gave her. The girl in question smirked upon seeing the fit, "It's perfect. Now you have to wear this necklace," the strawberry blonde handed the brunette a silver chain necklace with a single blue stone and some lighter blue stoned earrings, "And those gray boots you wore last Wednesday will go perfectly with it. Now let me do your makeup."

Jessie let Lydia sit her down and get to work as Allison numbly walked back into the room. She gingerly sat down at the foot of her bed behind Lydia and Jessie at the desk. "...Jessie?"

Jessie kept her eyes closed as Lydia swiped at them, "Yeah, Allison?"

"What do you know about what my mom wanted to talk to me about? You had a feeling, didn't you?" Allison asked her, knowing Jessie must know something she didn't. And she was terrified of whatever that was.

Jessie halted Lydia's handy work in order to turn and look at Allison. She shrugged poorly, "I don't know... I just—I just felt it was really important. I just don't know why. I'm sorry, I wish I could be of more help."

Allison shook her head weakly, "No—it's okay. I'm just getting a bad feeling...too."

Jessie took one of Allison's hands in hers, "Whatever it is, we lean on each other."

Allison smiled at her, this unbelievable friend she's made.

* * *

Jessie's boots clicked on the driveway as she walked up to the front door with a small bag containing a ruby pendant she found for Lydia on her favorite boutique site. She had ordered it during Lydia's stint in the hospital, intent on using it as a way of making amends for the hell Lydia's been through.

Jessie raised her fist to knock on the door. A few seconds later, Lydia opened the door with a tray of drinks in her other hand. She smiled, "Hey Jessie! Punch?"

Jessie slowly picked out a glass cup and handed her present to Lydia, "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks!" The popular girl smiled, nodding her head toward her backyard, "The party's in there."

Jessie followed the directions and found Stiles and Scott standing out there. She greeted them, "Hey guys!"

Stiles and Scott both smiled at her. Scott greeted her politely, "Hey Jess, you look great."

Jessie looked down at her ensemble and smiled bashfully, "Thanks, Scott."

"I'll say," Stiles gulped, agreeing, "Have you seen Jackson anywhere?"

Jessie rolled her eyes, "Hello to you too, Stiles."

Scott smirked as Stiles shrugged helplessly, "Well I found out some things."

"What did you find out?" Jessie frowned at the spazz.

"Everything goes back to water," Stiles said, "All the victims were on the swim team-"

"Wait," Jessie interrupted him, remembering something, "Isaac's dad used to coach the swim team. And Camden was on it."

"Exactly!" Stiles exclaimed excitedly, "And the way the kanima reacted around the pool."

"It hates water," Jessie contributed.

"So whoever's controlling the kanima really hates the swim team?" Scott asked, confused.

"Hated the swim team," Stiles corrected him, "Specifically, the 2006 swim team. So it could be another teacher. Maybe a student back then. I mean, who are we missing though? What haven't we thought of?"

Just then Allison found them and approached them, informing them of Jackson's absence.

"Yeah, no one's here," Stiles said as they teens looked around at the empty backyard. Lydia stood alone at the other side of the pool, holding a tray of drinks and pretending that nothing was amiss.

"Maybe it's just early," Scott stupidly thought out loud.

"Or maybe nobody's coming because Lydia's turned into the town whack-job," Stiles quipped sarcastically.

"Well, we have to do something," Allison murmured, "Because we've completely ignored her for the past two weeks."

"She's completely ignored Stiles the past ten years," Scott pointed out.

"I prefer to think of it as me not having been on her radar yet," Stiles denied.

"Besides," Jessie cut in, "She's grown up a lot since the winter."

"We don't owe her a party," Scott argued.

"What about the chance to get back to normal?" Allison asked, "She wouldn't be the town whack-job if it wasn't for us."

Scott sighed, muttering, "I guess I could use my co-captain status to get the lacrosse team here."

"I'll call Alex, Emily and Boyd," Jessie offered.

Stiles then said, "Yeah, I also know some people who can get this thing going. Like, really going."

"Who?" Allison asked the boy.

"I met them the other night," Stiles hedged, "Let's just say they know how to party."

"You mean..." Jessie trailed off, a sly smile forming on her face.

Stiles grinned, "Yep," and pulled out his phone.

* * *

"What if we break free?" Baako asked as he stood behind Erica while Derek got out her headpiece.

"Then you'll do anything you can to get out of here. Probably try to kill me, then kill each other and kill anything else with a heartbeat," Derek answered without blinking, "I need you to hold her."

Baako wrapped his arms around Erica to hold her steady as her hands gripped the metal bars.

"So how come she gets to wear the headband?" Isaac asked out of curiosity.

"Because she'll be able to withstand more pain than the two of you," Derek answered, making Erica smirk and giggled briefly. He looked at the questioning beta, "I've got an extra if you really want it."

Isaac shook his head, "I'll pass."

Derek looked seriously at Erica, "You ready?"

The girl met his eyes head on and nodded feebly, "Yeah."

Derek set the headband on her head, the ring stopping at level with her forehead. He started to twist the first bolt into the front of her face. Her expression contorted with pain as she jolted in Baako's arms. He held her tightly as she starting screaming, blood seeping from her skin as Derek kept winding the metal into her skull.

"AAAAHHHHH!"

* * *

Allison and Jessie stood together by Lydia by the punch table, both quietly taking the glass cups offered by the birthday girl. Allison sighed under her breath but Jessie heard it and rubbed her shoulder.

"Do you ever think about Isaac?" The huntress asked out of the blue.

If Jessie was startled by the question she didn't show it. But she did nod, "Everyday. Why?"

Allison answered her with another question, "I just don't understand I guess... you two were so in love and so perfect..."

"But we broke up," Jessie finished for her patiently. She sighed, looking down at her beverage as Allison watched her think, "It was really just a moment where I was doubting everything around me and I couldn't trust him. Everyday I wish I could go back and fix it somehow."

"Why don't you two fix it now?" Allison asked softly, "What's stopping you two?"

"Everything that's been going on," Jessie tried to explain, "People are dying and we're trying to save them and save Jackson and everything's just way too hectic for us to think about us right now."

Allison looked over at Scott, her eyes twinkling with moisture under the lamp lights.

"Are you gonna apologize to Allison or what?" Stiles asked his friend as they watched Allison and Jessie talk about something serious.

"Why should I apologize?" Scott asked stubbornly.

"Because you're the guy," Stiles told him in a matter-of-fact tone, "It's, like, what we do."

"But I didn't do anything wrong," Scott argued.

"Then you should definitely apologize," Stiles informed him haughtily, "See, any time a guy thinks he hasn't done anything wrong, it means he's definitely done something wrong."

"Look, Allison," Jessie started, "I still love Isaac. He still loves me too—but it's not that simple sometimes. It's just not the right time for us, I guess."

"But if you two can't make it," Allison whispered, "What does that mean for me?"

Jessie's face softened, "Allison... you and Scott aren't the same as Isaac and my relationship. Just because we didn't make it doesn't me you guys won't."

"I'm not apologizing," Scott stated with finality.

"Is that the full moon talking, buddy?" Stiles asked frustratedly but with his usual sarcastic manner.

"Probably," Scott admitted, "Why do you care, anyway?"

"Because, Scott, something's gotta go right here," Stiles said exasperatedly, "I mean, we're getting our asses royally kicked, if you haven't noticed. People are dying. I got my dad fired. You're gonna be held back in school. Isaac and Jessie aren't together even though they still love each other. I'm in love with a nut-job. And if on top of all that, I gotta watch you lose Allison to a stalker like Matt, I'm gonna stab myself in the face."

Scott suddenly stood up, looking off in another direction, "Don't stab yourself in the face."

"Why not?" Stiles asked him sarcastically.

"Because Jackson's here." Both boys looked over to the backyard's entrance to see a tense Jackson entering the party. They watched as Lydia slowly handed him some punch and he took a sip, blankly looking out at the dancing and laughing crowd.

* * *

Isaac grunted in discomfort as Derek chained him to a bench seat, "How do you not feel this?"

"I feel every second of it," Derek contradicted him gruffly, clasping the chains.

"Then how do you control it?" Isaac asked, laying his head on the metal bar behind him.

"Find an anchor," Derek told him, his alpha/teacher voice seeping through his tone, "Something meaningful to you. Bind yourself to it. Keep the human side in control."

"What is it for you?" The beta questioned curiously.

Derek's mind briefly flashed to Marissa's face. But he shook his head to himself and answered truthfully, "Anger. But it doesn't have to be that for everybody."

"You mean Scott?" Isaac guessed.

Derek nodded, "Yeah. All right, that should do it." But just as he said this, the leg of the pole that Isaac was chained too gave way under Isaac's pressure on the chains. Derek peered up at the beta before looking back at the writhing and growling Baako and Erica in the back, their eyes glowing under the power of the full moon.

* * *

Jessie took a sip of her drink,walking toward the door for the bathroom just as she saw Alex, Emily and Boyd walk out toward the pool and come to greet her.

Emily squealed and bounced toward Jessie, gripping the girl in a tight hug, "Thanks for calling. I had no idea this party was even happening."

Jessie smiled and hugged the perky blonde back, "Well apparently it's the party of the year. But this year we had to improvise."

"Well it looks great," Emily smiled, backing off to take Boyd's hand in hers.

Jessie pointed over to the punch, "You should get some drinks, they're really good."

Emily smirked, "Be right back," and dragged Boyd off, the shy boy blushing after her.

Alex stood smiling softly at her, "Hey Jessie, you look... beautiful..."

Jessie smiled back at him, taking in his improvised party outfit. He wore a dark blue shirt with some kind of gray dragon print on it, with a white un-buttoned shirt over it and jeans. "You look pretty good yourself."

* * *

Scott sat alone, peering at his hand as he flexed it, feeling the signs of the full moon in his blood and holding it back as best he could. Suddenly a glass of punch was thrust into his open palm and he looked up to see Lydia standing over him, "Uh, I can't drink tonight."

Lydia rolled her eyes impatiently, "All right, what is it with the two of you?"

"Oh, no, Stiles is drinking," Scott assured her naively.

"Not Stiles," Lydia snapped, "You and Allison." They both caught sight of Allison standing by the pool. "I don't care why you have to keep your little love affair so secret, but right here and right now seems like the perfect time just—to have a good time," Lydia told him, a soft expression on her face.

Scott stood, punch in hand, and murmured, still staring at Allison, "You know something? You're right." He slowly took a sip of the pink drink in his hand, Lydia watching carefully and calculating.

"See? Isn't that good?"

Scott stared down at the drink, with surprise on his face. He looked back at the birthday girl, "Actually, yeah. Really good." He took another large gulp while Lydia excused herself. When he looked back to where he saw Allison standing, she wasn't there anymore.

* * *

"You get two minutes," Allison said sternly as she and Matt found a guest room to talk in.

Matt started to close the door but stopped short at Allison's wary expression. He left the door open, "Okay. Uh, right. So I know I took some pictures of you that I should've told you about. But is it really that bad that—that I think you're beautiful—and I think you should be the subject of a perfect photograph?" He justified.

"Um, Matt," Allison murmured awkwardly, "Some of those pictures I—I don't even know how you took them."

"Telephoto lens," Matt answered, "I mean, come on, Allison. Photographers call them candids."

"Well, police officers call it stalking," Allison quipped without thinking and immediately regretted it, her face dropping.

Matt scoffed, "Stalking," his face turning cold, "So I'm—I'm a stalker now. That's—is that it? You—you think my bedroom is wallpapered with your photos. You think I'm the kind of guy that's gonna say something like, 'well, if I can't have her, no one can'? Well, you know what? Get over yourself, because there's another pretty girl walking through the room every five minutes." His expression turned regretful as he went to say something apologetic.

But Allison didn't let him, "Well, then, all you have to do is wait another three. Good luck." She went to walked around him but he grabbed her arm to stop her. On impulse, she grabbed his elbow and shoulder and swiftly knocked him on his back. She stared down at him in shock as he gasped, "What is the matter with you?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so—I'm so sorry," she whispered, walking out of the room. She froze when she saw a hooded figure stalk through the crowd. She followed it downstairs, catching sight of a crossbow in the figure's hand. She dreadfully whispered to herself, "No. No, not here," before calling out for Scott.

Suddenly she felt an arrow pierce through her stomach, gasping in pain loudly, her hands flashing to the wood sticking out of her abdomen. She looked up at her assailant, her eyes widening when she saw her own face staring coldly back at her.

"Look at you," The doppelganger muttered darkly, "Yelling for help. Always yelling for help. It's pathetic, Allison. You—you have no idea how much I've been looking forward to this." the clone raised the crossbow again, ready to deliver a deathly strike when the world vibrated inside Allison's head and her twin disappeared into thin air.

* * *

Stiles and Scott walked through the edge of the crowd, "You feeling okay?"

Scott blinked blearily, walking off, "It's not the moon. It's different."

Scott disappeared as Stiles heard a man's voice—his dad's voice—slur, "Why am I wearing black?" The teen looked toward the punch table where he saw his father, dressing in all black, with a Jack Daniels bottle in his hands, cuffing the collar of some teenager and yelling at him drunkenly, "What are you, an idiot? I just came from a funeral. You know, people wear black at funerals!"

The teen flinched from the Sheriff's hold, "Dude, chill. It was just-"

"Get out of my face!" The Sheriff shouted, turning his attention on his son staring on in shock. The music muted and the teen partiers quieted as Mr. Stilinski pointed accusingly at Stiles, "It's you. It's all you. You know, everyday I saw her lying in that hospital bed slowly dying—I thought, 'how the hell am I supposed to raise this stupid kid on my own? This hyperactive little bastard who keeps ruining my life?'" Stiles eyes started to water at his father's words, piercing him in the heart. And it wasn't over. "It's all you. It's you, Stiles. You killed your mother. You hear me? You killed her! And now you're killing me!" The man lifted his half-empty alcoholic glass bottle to throw it right at his son.

The world shifted and vibrated inside Stiles head as he flinched away from the impact that never came. He lowered his arms from his face and looked to see his dad not present, and everyone going on normally as if none of that even happened.

"Stiles—are you okay?" Stiles' head whipped to see Emily standing with Boyd behind her, a concerning look on both of their faces.

Stiles swallowed thickly, wiping the tear that had escaped his eye, "I'm fine." He walked off from them.

* * *

Jessie nearly tripped on her way out of the bathroom. Her head felt dizzy. She traipsed into Lydia's bedroom, falling onto the bed and groaning into a pillow.

"Are you okay?"

Jessie instantly sat up, her face contorting into shock at the appearance of her ex-boyfriend in the doorway. Isaac swiftly shut the door and sat next to her, brushing the bangs away from her face soothingly, kissing her temple like he always did. "What's wrong?"

"I feel—I don't feel good..." Jessie blearily blundered, blinking up at him, "What are you doing here? The full moon-"

Isaac pressed a finger to her lips, shushing her, "It's okay. I've got control. Because of you. You're my anchor. Because I love you."

"Isaac..." Jessie sighed, not ready for this kind of conversation.

Isaac interrupted her by kissing her right on the lips. In any other circumstance Jessie might have pushed him away. But all she could think about right now what how right it felt to be with him again. She moved her lips with his, kissing him back. She even let him softly push her into the comforter, him crawling over her body, slipping between her legs. Her knees encased his hips as he trailed his lips down her neck, traveling up to that spot he knew drove her crazy. She couldn't hold back the moan as Isaac's nails softly dragged over the skin of her thigh, bringing the hem of her dress up with it.

But suddenly his body was yanked off of hers and she opened her eyes to see Derek slamming Isaac into Lydia's dresser, the glass of picture frames shattering upon impact. Isaac groaned in pain as Jessie gasped at his expense. Derek glared hardly between the two of them, "You can't do that! I won't allow it!"

"No!" Jessie protested, "It's okay! He wasn't gonna hurt me!"

Derek scoffed at her, glaring coldly, "You think it's you I'm worried about?"

Jessie gaped at the alpha dumbly, "What...?"

Derek chuckled darkly, "I'm worried about my beta—my pack mate. You're nothing to me."

Isaac rubbed at the back of his neck, sighing, "You're right, Derek. You were always right."

Jessie looked in between the two of them, "What? What's going on?"

A vibration passed through her head as Derek laughed menacingly, leaning over her still heaving body, "Did you really believe me when I denied my parents killed yours? You did! You're too easy."

Jessie shook her head, denying it, "No—it's not true. They were friends. They protected them..."

Derek shook his head, his eyes flashing scarlet red, "You were too much of a liability—a danger. Way too powerful. An abomination. Worse than the kanima. It's only a matter of time before you become a monster like him. My parents realized that back then. And they tried to stop you. But they failed."

Jessie shook her head frantically, "No—that's not true!" she shouted, tears streaming down her face, "I'm a good person. I'm not a monster!"

Derek paused over her body, his nails slipping out of his fingertips with a snipping sound, "Do you hear that?" He taunted, "It's the sound of your heartbeat rising. You're lying to yourself!"

Jessie screamed in agony as she felt Derek pierce her chest with his claws. The world shifted and vibrated in her head and she was left panting in cold sweat on the bed. She stood on shaky legs and looked around, her hand feeling the skin of her chest. There was no sign of blood or puncture marks, or Derek, or Isaac...

* * *

Jessie had been gone for a while. So Alex decided to look for her. He placed his half-empty cup of punch on a table and started for the inside of the house. He bypassed the stairs and found himself wandering outside in the front of the large house. He looked around the night air, seeing no one.

He was about to go inside when he heard a female voice call his name. He turned around, seeing the aged and severe looking woman standing as straight as a flag pole, as cold as ice. "Wanda," He greeted.

The woman snarled at him, "What's been taking so long, my boy? You should have finished your job days ago."

"This kind of thing takes times," Alex justified himself, "She trusts us... but if we rush, we might push her way."

"You mean, you might push her away," Wanda corrected him, smirking, "Everyone knows, Alex."

"Knows what?" The boy tried to play off.

"We know you love her," Wanda stated coldly, done with games and word play, "You let your heart win over your head and now you don't want your mission. So you're squandering it!"

Alex shook his head, "No that's not true."

Wanda cackled coldly, "Don't play dumb, Alexander. You know what will happen to your family if you fail... You have a job to do, Alexander. You were supposed to gain her trust, isolate her from her family, her friends, cause her to doubt everything she knows so she has no choice but to turn to you, and in turn—turn to us, our side. You weren't supposed to fall in love with the job."

Alex was about to answer when he heard a soft, thick voice behind him ask, "Is that true?"

Wanda smirked as Alex whipped around to see a tearful Jessie standing behind them, having heard the whole thing. Alex gaped, feeling hot and stuffy under the gaze of a girl he'd grown to care about more than anything.

She stared at him, hurt, a tear tracking its way down her cheek, "Is that true, Alex? You were just using me? It was all a lie?"

Alex shook his vibrating and dizzy head, his vision swimming briefly, "No—no, Jessie, I can explain."

"I think she knows exactly what's going on, Alexander," Wanda droned.

Jessie's face contorted into a hard glare, "It's true. Everything was a lie—our chance meeting, all our late night phone calls, all of it. You were just using me. For what?"

Alex searched for words to explain himself. Jessie wiped at her face, "Why, Alex? Did you not feel anything for me? I thought I felt something for you... I was so stupid..."

"NO!" Alex shouted, walking up to her. She looked up at him as he desperately breathed, "No, none of it was a lie. I may have had other... motives, for meeting you. But everything I said... everything I did... it was real. I really do care about you."

"Then tell me," Jessie whispered, "Tell me the truth. Tell me you love me."

Alex looked deeply into her moist eyes, whispering with every ounce of truth in him, "I love you... Jessica..."

She stared up at him for a long time, before averting her eyes to her shoes, pulling something hidden from behind her back. Alex saw it was his father's claymore, the metal of the blade glinting off the moon's light. Jessie stared up at him, her eyes going cold as she spat at him, "I don't believe you." Before Alex could do anything, she pushed the sword into his chest, right in his heart. Alex cried out, the world shifting and his head vibrating before the sensations suddenly stopped. He gasped, seeing that Jessie disappeared. He frantically looked around, seeing that Wanda disappeared as well—and he was alone.

* * *

Scott tripped up the stairs, his head growing dizzy with every step. He stood on the dark stairs, catching sight of a couple making out on the window seat. When he got a closer look, he saw it as Allison and Jackson. The lacrosse star's hands trailed up and down her legs, his lips kissing her neck and chest. And she was letting him.

Scott felt rage overcoming him as he blinked. When he looked again, it was Allison and the kanima loving each other. They broke apart to stare at him coldly, the lizard creature hissing at him. Scott growled deep in his throat, his face transforming briefly as he groaned. The world shifted as his head vibrated and the vision disappeared. "Lydia."

* * *

Jackson blinked at the crazy teenagers around him, dropping his cup with a clang when he heard a woman's voice, "His name is Jackson. We're looking for Jackson Whittemore."

Jackson's gaze found the back of a couple, talking to Lydia. The man asked the crowd, "Has anyone seen Jackson? We're his parents."

"Mr. Whittemore?" Lydia asked.

"No, we're his real parents," The man corrected her.

"No, no," Jackson murmured to himself in dread.

"Could someone tell we're here?" the woman asked.

"Tell him we're his real parents," the man demanded.

Jackson watched on in horror as the entire crowd froze and stared at only him. The couple slowly turned around, revealing nothing. Their faces held no identifying features, blank skin with no identity. Jackson gasped, feeling his face and his identity fade into a blank nothing. He gasped as the world shifted and his head vibrated, the music filling his ears again. His vision cleared, seeing no one staring at him and no couple standing before him without faces.

* * *

Scott pushed his way through the crowd, asking around, "You guys seen Lydia? You know where Lydia is? Have you seen Lydia? Lydia? Where's Lydia?"


	11. Equalized

Derek sighed into his cell phone as he heard the betas growling and writhing around inside the subway train, "Scott, can you call me back? I'm probably gonna need some help." He hung up the phone as he heard a crash, "Definitely gonna need some help."

Derek's nails grew as he charged into the subway car, seeing all the wolves thrashing in their chains, fully transformed. Isaac jolted in his seat, growling. Baako and Erica snarled in the back.

Erica broke free first, ripping her headband off her head and charging for her alpha. Derek wrapped his arms around her to hold her back as Isaac thrashed in his seat, breaking free of his chains and throwing his body out the window. "Isaac!"

Derek let go of Erica to try and follow Isaac but Baako assailed him, throwing the Hale boy onto a seat, slashing at him with his claws.

* * *

Scott leaned Stiles up against a brick wall next to a small pool, holding a water bottle to his lips, "Stiles, look at me. Drink the water. Stiles, drink it. Something's happening, and I need you to sober up right now. Come one, Stiles."

A girl Scott recognized as Danielle from his Algebra class freshman year appeared next to Stiles, "What do you think you're doing? You want to sober him up fast, that's not the way to do it."

"You can do better?" Scott asked her.

"I can do best, boy," Danielle haughtily replied, grabbing Stiles and dunking his head into the pool next to them. He came up gasping and spluttering with a splash. "Whoo!" Danielle breathed, water splashing from him on his face, "How do you feel?"

"Like I might have to revisit my policy on hitting a girl," Stiles sarcastically replied.

Danielle looked satisfied, "He's sober."

* * *

Isaac growled and panted on the stone floor of the warehouse, wanting to rip something to shreds. He tried desperately to hold himself back, to hold onto his humanity. But nothing he thought of was working.

_Isaac called out Jessie's name as he frantically ran for her. As she saw he was safe, she rushed to meet him, their lips crashing together and arms wrapping around each other, reveling in their lives. Isaac pulled back and they pressed their foreheads together, "I'm so glad you're okay."_

_Jessie sniffed and nodded, "I'm so sorry you had to get dragged into all this..."_

_"Don't," Isaac cut her off, kissing her again, still not believing what was happening._

Isaac's breathing increased, his claws fading into human hands.

_She slowly cupped his face with one hand and whispered, "I love you."_

_"I love you too," He said back and kissed her. And they laid there side by side, facing each other, kissing until they fell asleep._

Isaac's breathing had returned to normal, his face transforming back to normal.

He quickly got to his feet, morphing himself again and rushing back into the subway car. He found Derek still struggling with Erica and Baako. He grabbed Baako and slammed him into a seat, growling, "Calm down. Think of Jessie. Think of Bethany—think of your parents."

Derek, meanwhile, was roughly chaining Erica back up.

Baako panted heavily, trying to hold himself back and focus on what Isaac said.

_Eight year old Baako held four year old Jessie's hand in the waiting room of a hospital in Portland, Oregon. Their Aunt Rory walked stood with a big smile when their daddy walked into the waiting room, covered in green scrubs, "It's a girl."_

_Aunt Rory clapped her hands and tugged on Baako's shoulders, "Let's go meet your sister."_

_Baako held Jessie's hand as the kids followed their Aunt and father into the hospital room, seeing their mommy laying on a bed, looking sweaty and tired but blissfully happy. Baako peered into her arms, seeing a small bundle of pink in her arms. The only other baby he'd seen was Jessie when the strangers brought her. Paula smiled at her children, "Look, Baako, Jessie. It's your baby sister, Bethany."_

_Hunter clasped his proud hands on Baako's shoulders, "You're a big brother to two now. You gonna help me protect them son?"_

_Baako looked up at his Daddy with his large brown eyes, "Yes, Dad. I'll protect them."_

He gasped, instantly controlling himself. He panted in exhaustion, sagging into the seat Isaac was holding him into. He sighed, letting his eyes slip closed as he passed out.

* * *

"Think you'll be okay now," Derek told Isaac as he re-chained the stoic, still-transformed beta, "Looks like you found an anchor."

Isaac didn't say anything at first. But the next moment he whispered, "It's her."

Derek paused, looking at the teen wolf, "Jessie." It wasn't a question—he knew.

Isaac sighed, "She makes me want to be better. She makes everything better."

"She broke up with you," Derek pointed out, not really believing Isaac could still worship her so much.

"She still loves me," Isaac breathed with finality.

Derek stood and walked out of the subway car. He was startled when he saw Lydia Martin staring doe-eyed at him. before he could say anything she held up a hand of purple dusk, blowing it in his face.

And it all went black.

* * *

Jessie calmed down enough to find Allison. She rushed to the girl who was standing lost in a sea of people. She grabbed Allison's arms, "Something's going on."

"I know," The huntress breathed out, "I thought I saw..."

"I had some kind of hallucination too," Jessie told her, not making her say it.

"What did you see?" Allison asked the girl.

Jessie averted her eyes to the ground, a tear slipping down her cheek, "I'd rather not..."

Allison placed a hand on her shoulder, "You don't have to talk about it. I guess we're both a bit shook up."

Jessie nodded before they heard Allison's phone ring. She peered at the caller ID curiously before answering it, "Hello?"

Jessie watched her friend's face fall into utter shock and despair, "What?... What happened?... I'll be right there." She violently hung up her phone and Jessie could see she was holding back tears. She started to go for the door but Jessie grabbed her shoulders, "Allison, what's wrong!?"

"Oh god!" Allison gasped out, "My mom..."

Jessie grabbed Allison's keys out of her hands, "Come on—I'll drive."

* * *

Tears fell freely down Allison's face as the girls walked out of the elevator. Allison paused at the sight of her mother's body covered in a sheet and her father emotionally talking to a police officer. She shook her head to herself, "No." Chris noticed Allison there and his face morphed into barely concealed agony. Allison tried to blink away her tears and hold them back, because with every fallen tear, the truth of the situation became a painful reality, "No. No, dad. Dad! If this is some kind of sick training session you had—you better tell me! You better tell me!"

Chris cried and tried to hold his daughter in his arms. She fought him for a while but eventually leaned into him, her knees giving out. "No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."

"What happened?" Allison gasped, "What hap-"

Chris stroked her hair, "Oh, sweetie, shh." He then noticed his daughter's friend. The Grimm. Jessie stood, watching the painful image of a family reeling from the loss of mother and wife. Her hand covered her mouth as her own tears streamed down her face. She shook her head to herself, uncovering her lips long enough to mouth, "I'm so sorry," to him.

In that moment, she wasn't an enemy. She was just a teenage girl, a friend to his daughter. And she was here in their time of need. He nodded to her, acknowledging her as an equal for once.

* * *

Chris sat heavily on the chair next to Jessie, "Allison is taking a moment. Then I'm going to take her home."

Jessie nodded mutely, "I'll go then." She went to stand but Chris grabbed her arm, making her pause and sit down.

"Victoria told me Allison wouldn't talk to her until you told her too," He stated.

"It seemed important," Jessie played it down.

"Thank you," Chris whispered, his throat thick with emotion, "I know you don't agree with my family. I know you're on the side of the werewolves. But what you did..."

"It wasn't about this coming war, Mr. Argent," Jessie told him sternly, "It was about a mother who wanted to say goodbye to her daughter."

Chris slowly let go of her wrist, "None the less, thank you."

Jessie nodded, brushing her loose hair out of her face, "I'm going to tell Allison I'm heading home. Don't let this change you, Chris. Or her."

She left before Chris could even dissect what she said. Jessie knocked on the room door before entering gingerly. Allison lifted her blank gaze from her mother's dead body to look at her friend, expressionlessly.

"I have to go home," Jessie murmured quietly, "Your dad says he'll take you home soon." She felt the guilt rise up in her chest upon seeing the devastation on Allison's face. "I'm so sorry, Allison. I felt something was wrong... I should've investigated or something. Maybe if I did... then this wouldn't have happ-"

"This was not your fault," Allison whispered bitterly, "You have feelings. And we follow them for the most part. But you can't be expected to know what every single feeling means. It's not your fault."

"I still feel guilty," Jessie sighed, "what use are psychic feelings if I can't prevent bad things from happening?—I'm sorry. We can't talk about this now. I'm gonna go... but call if you need anything, okay?"

Allison nodded into the girl's shoulder as they embraced farewell.

* * *

Derek groaned in tiredness as he heard someone calling to him in his bleariness, "Derek—can you hear me? Derek—can you hear me? I need you to answer me, Derek. Derek! We don't have much time."

He heard a sharp whistling that eventually forced him to open his eyes, "That sound—what was it?"

Deaton held up a dog whistle in his hand, making Derek roll his eyes unimpressed. "You're going to be weak for several hours."

Derek stood slowly with Deaton's help and stared at the ground, where a hole in the floor boards was. He sighed heavily, "It actually happened."

"Don't worry," Deaton told him blankly, with a slight lecturing tone, "You're still an Alpha. But, as usual, not a particularly competent one."

"Where is he?" Derek asked urgently.

"I wish I could tell you," Deaton shrugged, putting his whistle in his pocket.

"Then how about you tell me what you're doing here," Derek offered sternly, "and why you're helping me."

"Helping your family actually used to be a pretty important part of my life," Deaton informed him cryptically, "Helping you was a promise I made to your mother—as well as Jessica Sange."

"You're the one my sister talked about," Derek slowly remembered, "She said you're a—kind of adviser?"

"She was right," Deaton said, "And I have some advice that you need to listen to very closely right now. What Peter managed to do doesn't come without a price. He'll be physically weak, so he'll rely on the strength of his intelligence, his cunning. He's gonna come at you, Derek. He'll try to twist his way inside your head, preying on your insecurities. He'll tell you that he's the only way you can stop Gerard. Do no trust him."

"I don't trust anyone," Derek replied, slightly smugly.

"I know," Deaton droned, condescendingly, "If you did, you might be the Alpha you like to think you are. And unfortunately, the one person you should trust doesn't trust you at all."

"Scott," Derek muttered in acknowledgment.

"He's with Stilinski right now," Deaton told him, "You need to find him, you need to find him as fast as you can. I've known Gerard for a long time. He always has a plan. Something tells me—it's going exactly the way he wants it to."

"Before-" Derek cut off with a pause, "You mentioned Jessie—what does this have to do with her?"

"Everything," Deaton answered cryptically.

* * *

Jessie slipped off her shoes when she saw she had a text on her phone from Scott.

_We have proof the killer is matt. At the sheriffs station. Come quick._

Jessie sighed and slipped her shoes back onto her feet and headed back out the door.

* * *

Scott walked back into the office, hanging up his phone, "She's on her way here." He stopped short when he saw Sheriff Stilinski staring at something behind him. He turned around to see Matt carting Stiles into the office with a gun to his back.

Sheriff Stilinski immediately went into 'talk the crazy gun-man down' mode, "Matt? It's Matt, right? Matt, whatever's going on, I guarantee you there's a solution that doesn't involve a gun."

Matt snickered as Stiles went to stand beside Scott, "You know, it's funny you say that, because I don't think you're aware of just how right you are."

"I know you don't wanna hurt people," Sheriff stated calmly.

"Actually, I wanna hurt a lot of people," Matt corrected him with a eerie calm that hid his budding anger and impatience, "You three weren't on my list, but I could be persuaded. And one way is to try dialing somebody on your cell phone, like McCall is doing." Everyone's attention went to Scott who was quickly snatching his hand out of his jeans pocket. "That—that could definitely get someone hurt. Everyone. Now!"

* * *

Jessie pulled up and parked her car in front of the Sheriff's station and got out of her car. She gripped a hunting knife and quickly slipped it into the waistband of her jeans, underneath her shirt when she noticed Melissa parking her own car in front of the station. "Melissa—what are you doing here?"

Scott's mom looked startled to see the young girl, "Jessie, um, Scott called. What are you doing here?"

Jessie held up her phone, "Scott texted me." This didn't make any sense. Why would Scott text her that they found out Matt was the Kanima master and then call his mom over?

The women walked in together, seeing the front desk was left unattended. Jessie was getting a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, like someone else was here with them. She called out, "Scott? Stiles?"

Her bad feeling intensified and Melissa folded her arms together in worry, looking around the place, "There's no one here..."

"Mom?" Scott's voice filled their ears.

Melissa and Jessie both sighed in relief. "You scared me, where is every-" But she stopped short seeing her son standing with a gun aimed at the back of his head by the teenage boy she was asked to come in and identify.

"Mom, Jessie, just do what he says. He promised he wouldn't hurt you."

"He's right," Matt stated, losing his gun a fraction of an inch and pulling the trigger, getting Scott in the stomach with a cracking BANG!

Melissa screamed upon the sight of her son crumpling on the ground next to a bench, gripping it for support. Jessie gasped loudly as she heard Sheriff Stilinski's voice shout, "Scott! Stiles! What happened?"

"But I didn't say I wouldn't hurt you," Matt mentioned with a cynically smug smirk on his evil little face.


	12. Kanima Master

"Mom, Jessie, just do what he says. He promised he wouldn't hurt you."

"He's right," Matt stated, losing his gun a fraction of an inch and pulling the trigger, getting Scott in the stomach with a cracking BANG!

Melissa screamed upon the sight of her son crumpling on the ground next to a bench, gripping it for support. Jessie gasped loudly as she heard Sheriff Stilinski's voice shout, "Scott! Stiles! What happened?"

"But I didn't say I wouldn't hurt you," Matt mentioned with a cynically smug smirk on his evil little face.

Melissa started to step toward Scott, "Wait-"

But Matt raised his gun against her with anger seeping into his expression, "Back, back!"

"Mom, mom," Scott begged, "Stop."

Melissa tried to step around Matt but he shouted at her, "I said get back!"

"Scott," Melissa whimpered.

Scott looked up at her pleadingly, "Mom, do it. Please."

"Get up, McCall," Matt ordered.

"Matt?" Sheriff Stilinski's voice called out again, "Matt, listen to me-"

"Shut—shut—shut up!" Matt shouted hysterically, "Everybody shut the hell up! Now, get up, or I shoot her next!" He held the gun to Melissa's face. Scott forced himself to stand but with great difficulty. Matt saw this and rolled his eyes, looking at Jessie, "You—help him."

Jessie didn't hesitate to rush forward and wrap Scott's arm around her shoulder and help him walk.

* * *

"Please, he needs to see a doctor," Melissa begged inside a jail cell, tears streaming down her face, smudging her makeup.

"You think so?" Matt asked her sarcastically, holding his gun tightly.

Jessie held Scott against the wall to support him on his feet as the Sheriff angrily pulled at the handcuffs restraining him, "Hey, hey, you listen to me!"

"It's all right," Scott interrupted them, "I'm okay."

"No, honey, you're not okay," Melissa whimpered in worry for her only child.

"It doesn't hurt, mom," Scott tried to assure her.

"'Cause that's the adrenaline, okay?" She told him, looking at Matt with pleading brown eyes, "Please, let me—let me just take a look at him, okay? I mean, I can help stop the bleeding."

"They have no idea, do they?" Matt asked Scott with amusement.

"Please," Melissa cried, not understanding what was going on, "Let me just take a quick look. I-"

"Shut—shut—shut—shut up!" Matt hissed, "Lady, if you keep talking, I'm gonna put the next bullet through his head."

"Okay, okay," Melissa whispered in fear.

"Back to the front, McCall—you too," Matt growled to Scott and Jessie. The two nodded and walked toward the office with gun-ho Matt behind them.

* * *

Jessie was shocked to see Stiles and Derek laying on the ground but seemingly conscious and otherwise unharmed. She concluded that the kanima must have paralyzed them.

"The evidence is gone," Scott said, looking at Matt desperately, "Why don't you just go?"

"You—you think the evidence mattered that much, huh?" Matt asked him like he was stupid for believing so. He shook his head, glowering, "No, no, I want the book."

Both Jessie and Scott gaped, "What—what book?"

"The bestiary," Matt snapped, shocking all in the room, "Not just a few pages, I want the entire thing."

"You can't have it," Jessie growled before she could think better of it, protective of what little she had of her heritage.

"I don't have it," Scott tried to dissuade the crazy captor, "What do you want it for, anyway?"

"I need answers," Matt muttered to himself.

"Answers to what?" Scott asked, completely lost.

"To this," Matt scowled, pulling up his shirt to reveal a patch of scaly skin trailing up his side—kanima skin.

* * *

Jessie didn't need to support Scott anymore because by now he was all healed up. But they kept their hands clasped together for friendly support and anchors. Jessie knew she could lose her temper at any moment and do something.

"There," Matt said, lowering his gun just a little, "You know, I—I feel sorry for you, McCall, 'cause right now, you're thinkin', 'how am I gonna explain this when it heals?'" Matt muttered to Scott with fake sympathy, "And the sad part is, you don't even realize how incredible it is that you actually are healing. 'Cause you know what happens to everyone else when they get shot? They die!"

He laid his hands down on the table in the room and glared down at the light wood, "Is that what happened to you? You drowned, didn't you? I know what happens to Jessie when she's in the water... It's scary..."

Jessie averted her eyes to the ground under Matt's scrutinizing glare, Scott squeezing her hand in support. "You can't swim?" Matt asked her, briefly interested.

Jessie looked up at him blankly and shrugged, "Never learned. But someone," she narrowed her eyes at him, "thought it would be funny to send their little pet to paralyze me and make me fall into a pool. Luckily, I wasn't alone so I didn't drown."

There could have been some flash of something akin to remorse in his eyes—just a flash.

"What happened Matt?" Scott prodded.

"He shouldn't have let them drink..." Matt muttered in a whisper, leaning against the table, staring at nothing in particular.

"Who, Matt?" Scott asked, trying to get something out of their captor, hoping he could find something to appeal to and talk him down with, "What do you mean?"

"Lahey!" Matt shouted, glaring at the two teens briefly, "He shouldn't have let them drink."

"The swim team," Jessie guessed, "When?"

"I didn't know they had just won state, and Lahey, he's letting his favorites come over to have a couple drinks to celebrate. Who cares if they're 17, right?" Matt scoffed sarcastically.

"At Isaac's?" Scott asked him, slightly shocked.

"He had this first edition Spider-man... or was it Batman?" Matt pondered over the details of the story, "And we were gonna make a trade. But then I'm over there and I hear music. And everyone's having a good time, and I see Sean. He throws Jessica in the pool. And then—and then Bennett goes in and-"

"Bennett?" Scott interrupted, "The hunter?"

"And then Camden," Matt growled, "Isaac's jarhead brother, he grabs me. He think it's funny." Anyone could see the tel tale signs of tears building in his eyes as he went back in time.

"They threw you in," Scott realized out loud, Jessie's hand tightening in his as sympathetic tears formed in her eyes.

"I—I yelled that I can't swim, but nobody listens," Matt whimpered insanely, "I go under and I swallow water, and no one cares. And I see these bodies underwater. I—I see Jessica's got her hands down Sean's board shorts. Tucker's grabbing Kara. And I'm drowning. I'm dying, and they're laughing," he laughed breathlessly along with whatever memory he was getting lost in, like it was happening again, "All of the sudden, I was just—I'm lying by the pool. And Lahey is right there, right above me, and he says-"

"You tell no one!" Matt shouted in a slightly deeper voice, raised in volume, waving the gun in Jessie and Scott's faces, "He says, 'you tell no one! This, this is your fault! You don't know how to swim? What little bastard doesn't know how to swim? You say nothing! You tell no one! No one!" He was panting slightly and taking deep breaths, calming down, "And I didn't. I didn't tell anyone. And I would see them at school, and the wouldn't even look at me. I'd wake up in the middle of the night. I'd gasp for breath. And my parents, they thought I was asthmatic. They—they—they even gave me an inhaler," Matt scoffed in dark humor, growing somber as he carried on, "They didn't know that every time I closed my eyes, I—I was drowning. You know about that little white light that they talk about, you see when you die? Well, I didn't see anything. Just darkness. Everything was dark. But then—then came the Argent's funeral, and everything changed."

Jessie tried not to look at Matt with pity now, knowing and finally actually understanding what someone else is going through—due to their shared fear of water. But she knew some of the emotion showed in her eyes, so she averted her gaze to Scott's shoulder as she clung to his hand.

"I was taking some photos, and then, purely by accident, Lahey gets in one of the photos," Matt told them, much calmer now, "I look down at the screen on my camera, and I just had this unbelievable rage that fills up inside of me, and I just—I look at him, and I—I wanna see him dead. And the next day, he actually was," He paused, his head tilting to the side, "You know, Einstein was right. Imagination is more important than knowledge. It was like something out of Greek mythology. Like—like the furies coming down to punish Orestes." He paused, looking condescendingly at Scott, "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

He asked Scott the question but he was Jessie who answered, "They were creatures of vengeance. They would punish evil if their crime went un-punished."

Scott nodded imperceptibly as Matt took over the conversation again, gazing at the half-transformed Jackson across he hallway, "Jackson is my fury. You know, when I saw him the next night, it was like this bond had been cemented between the two of us. I knew he had killed Lahey for me, and I knew he would do it again. So I went to Tucker's garage. I even paid for an oil change. And guess what," he scoffed with dark humor, "He didn't even recognize me. So when he wasn't looking, I took a shot of him with my camera. And in a few hours, he was dead."

Matt laughed, "So I took more pictures. All I had to do was take their picture—and Jackson would take their life."

Suddenly the lights cut out and the three were plunged into darkness. Jessie gasped and Scott immediately wrapped his arms around her protectively, knowing that she may not heal like he could if something happened. She could heal from Peter's claws but that may have been a one off. Matt was freaking out as sirens filled the police station, an alarm, "What is this? What is this? What's happening? What's going on?"

Scott answered with, "I don't know," as yellow light flashed across their faces and they all saw men standing outside the window with guns in their hands. The next second gun shots shattered the glass and filled the room. Scott pushed Jessie behind him and ducked them behind a desk while Matt took cover underneath another.

One of them threw some tin can device into the room and then smoke shot out of it, enveloping the room so it was impossible to see anything. Scott quickly pulled Jessie up and led her out of the room, knocking Jackson out of the way while he was at it. They ran to the still paralyzed Derek and Stiles. Derek quickly yelled, "Take him," but Scott hesitated so he yelled again, "Go!"

Scott hastily picked up a limp Stiles and Jessie tried to pull Derek up but he was too heavy for her. He groaned, "Go with Scott, Jessie! Go now!"

She whimpered but obeyed and ran after Scott and Stiles, dodging Jackson on the way. Scott turned and locked a door to block Jackson but he just kicked it in. Jessie groaned as they ran into the next room and locked that door. They kept running, hearing the smash of wood as Jackson kicked in that door too. They finally made it to a room with a steel door, Scott bolting it behind them.

He laid Stiles down in a chair and said, "Don't move," warranting a sarcastic look from Stiles. Scott shrugged, "You know what I mean."

Scott ran outside to try and find the Kanima while Jessie waited a moment before opening the door. She looked around, seeing no one and went back in to tell Stiles, "I'm going to get your dad and Melissa."

"Take me with you!" Stiles begged.

"It's too dangerous, Stiles," Jessie argued, "You can't move yet."

"It's my dad!" Stiles pointed out desperately, "I can't let anything happen to him-"

"And I can't let anything happen to you!" Jessie interrupted him, staring at him seriously, making him go a little quiet, "Please, Stiles. I'm going to save them, and then I'll come back for you, I promise."

Jessie ran out of the room before he could try and beg her to take him with her some more and ran for the jail cell rooms where she knew Matt locked Melissa and chained the Sheriff. When she got there Sheriff Stilinski was desperately pulling and tugging on his cuff, grunting in pain of the exertion.

Melissa tearfully cheered him on when she saw Jessie, "Jessica! Oh my god, sweetie, you're okay!"

Sheriff Stilinski turned to see her and sighed with relief, "Where's Stiles? And Scott?"

Jessie gaped a little before running over to the desk and rummaging through the drawers, "Stiles is incapacitated, but fine. Scott went to find Matt. And I'm looking for the god damn key! And a gun."

"A gun?" Melissa gasped, "Why would you need one?"

"Because I only brought a knife and that's no use against a crazy kid with a gun," Jessie told her before she gave a shout of triumph when her fingertips came in contact with the cool metal of cuff keys. She tossed them over to Stiles' dad and he went to work unlocking himself as Jessie kept looking for a gun. She bent down on her knees to look in the lower drawers when Matt suddenly walked in and smashed his gun into the back of the Sheriff's head, effectively knocking him out.

Jessie stayed hidden as Melissa whimpered and begged the boy, "Matt, please, listen to me. My son has been shot, and I've heard other gunfire, and I don't know what's happening, but can you please just let me see my son?"

"How clueless are you people?" Matt hissed at her incredulously.

Jessie rolled out from under the desk and ran up behind him, grabbing the back of his head by his hair and smashing his forehead into the bars, disorienting him enough so she could snatch the gun out of his hands. She quickly aimed it at him and he glared at her when he noticed she stole it. He went to take it back from her but she quickly let out a gun shot by his head, missing him purposely. "Don't," She warned him, "Don't move. You think you're special? You think you're the only one whose faced death? Whose scared of something? You think a near death experience gives you the right to kill people? I hate people like you."

Melissa sighed, "What's going on?"

"I hate people like you who take out your anger and your fear on people who can't fight back," she hissed at him, glaring through her watery eyes as Matt stared back at her stoically, fear hiding in his eyes, "You push and push people like me—us. You push us too far... and you think there won't be consequences..."

"You won't shoot me," Matt told her, but she could hear the hint of fear in his vocal chords.

"Why does everyone think I won't shoot?" Jessie asked rhetorically, "I will do anything I have to do to protect my friends and my family. Don't underestimate me."

With that she raised the gun and smashed the butt of it into his head, knocking him out cold. She heard hissing behind her and Melissa let out a soft scream as she turned around to see the kanima—full transformed—crouching in front of her to Matt's rescue.

"Jackson!" Jessie shouted sternly, "No! This is wrong—you know that!"

The beast didn't seem to understand her, taking a swipe at her that she avoided, "Stop it Jackson! You know you don't have to do this! I know you're in there!"

Derek ran in upon Jessie's shouted, wolfed out and ready to protect her. He growled menacingly at the kanima as it turned its attention to him and hissed back, lunging for the alpha. Derek easily threw its body into the desk. Scott ran in wolfed out as well and went to swipe at the lizard creature when Jessie stopped him.

Jessie ran in front of the wolves, "No, guys! I can help him, let me!"

Melissa whimpered, "Scott? No!" as she slowly backed away from the bars at the sight of her son turned into some kind of wolf monster. Scott watched her face turn to terror and wanted to go to her. But she was scared of him. His mother was scared of him.

The kanima hissed again and jumped on top of the desk, staring at Jessie with contempt. Jessie looked up at him, "Jackson... it's okay. You don't have to prove anything. Remember when we first met... and you were asking me how I dealt with being adopted? Do you remember what I told you?"

_"Jackson?" His eyes flashed up to mine and Jessie tried to convey compassion, "Did you find out that you're adopted?"_

_He seemed to struggle with the answer, breathing deeply in through his nose and scowling, "Yeah."_

_"It's not an easy thing to swallow, is it?" She asked softly._

_"No," He answered briefly, "And how do you handle it?"_

_"You're parents love you Jackson," Jessie told him, "It may take time to deal with it, but I'm one hundred percent sure that your parents will be with you the whole way. And if you ever need to talk," She spoke, taking a pen out from my pocket she was using to keep score to write her number on his palm, "Just call. Now let's get back to the game."_

"You do remember," Jessie said for him, as his eyes held a hint of recognition. She held out her hand to him, "You don't have to kill, Jackson. Please, let me in."

The kanima tilted its head at her, slowly raising its hand. Its scaly palm came in contact with her skin. And she felt something... cement between them. It must have been whatever Matt was talking about.

Jessie was the Kanima Master now.


	13. Bleeding Aftermath

"You know when you're drowning, you don't actually inhale until right before you black out. It's called voluntary apnea. It's like no matter how much you're freaking out, the instinct to not let any water in is so strong that you won't open your mouth until you feel like your head's exploding. But then when you finally do let it in, that's when it stops hurting. It's not scary anymore. It's—it's actually kind of peaceful."

"Do you feel sorry for the nine-year-old Matt who drowned?" Ms. Morrell asked Stiles.

"Just because a bunch of dumbasses dragged him into a pool when he couldn't swim doesn't really give him the right to go off killing them one by one. And by the way, my dad told me that they found a bunch of pictures of Allison on Matt's computer. And not just of her though. I mean, he photoshopped himself into these pictures. Stuff like them holding hands and kissing. You know, like he had built this whole fake relationship. So yeah, maybe drowning when he was nine years old was what sent him off the rails, but the dude was definitely riding the crazy train—and he deserves to rot in jail for the rest of his life."

"One positive thing came out of this, though," Ms. Morrell mentioned, meaning his father getting reinstated as Sheriff, "Right?"

Stiles shrugged as he tugged on the knots of his lacrosse stick, "Yeah. Yeah, but I still feel like there's something wrong between us. I don't know. It's just like tension when we talk. Same thing with Scott."

"Have you talked to him since that night?"

Stiles shook his head, "No, not really. I mean, he's got his own problems to deal with though."

_Scott got dressed for school, picking up his backpack ready to head out of his room. He heard his mother's door close just as he was walking out. He knocked on her door, getting no answer, "Mom. Mom, we're gonna have to talk about this eventually," but there was still no answer. Scott's shoulders sagged and he sighed, "Okay. I'm going. I love you."_

"I don't think he's talked to Allison either. But that might be more her choice, you know."

_Allison sat in her car, staring out her drivers window before leaning forward and breathing on the glass to reveal that Scott had fingered the words '12:00 PLEASE'. Allison hesitated just a second before vigorously rubbing the words away._

"Her mom dying hit her pretty hard. But I guess it brought her and her dad closer."

_Jackson sat on his bed, staring at the blood stained on his hands._

_"Jackson? Jackson hasn't really been himself lately."_

_Jackson looked up to see Jessie walking into his room. She smiled weakly, "Sorry—you're mom let me in."_

_"What are you doing here?" Jackson whispered self-deprecatingly._

_She sighed, "I don't know..." She sat next to him on his bed and laid her head on his shoulder, "I won't make you kill. I'm not like Matt."_

"And what about your friend Jessie?" Ms. Morrell asked, "Her parents have signed her up for sessions with me as well."

Stiles sighed, "Jessie... she's been through a lot. She's the type of person to blame herself when bad things happen and she's not able to stop it. She blamed herself for Allison's mom dying. And Matt killing people and holding us hostage in the station. She puts too much pressure on herself. And since that night..."

_Jessie marched through the woods behind her house, walking aimlessly. Her feet led her to the last place she wanted to go—the Hale house. The leaves crunched under feet as she stalked closer, the sound echoing in her ears._

"Since that night... what?" Ms. Morrell coaxed.

"I don't know..." Stiles murmured, "Something changed. Like she saw something or did something that she didn't like and she won't talk about it."

_Jessie stared at her shaking hands before gazing up at the house, her knees buckling underneath her. She collapsed on the dirt floor and leaned her shoulder on the rough bark of a tree next to her while tears streamed down her face and sobs brought out through her throat. Her cries mixed with the whistling of the wind in the midnight air._

"Her mom told me she has nightmares. And sometimes she calls me or Scott but then hangs up before we can answer. It's like she's trying to tell us something but she won't tell us what it is."

"And you worry about her?" Ms. Morrell asked patiently.

Stiles nodded, "Well, yeah, she's our best friend. I mean, ever since she moved here she's been this fixture between me and Scott. She's like a sister to me,"

_Jessie walked into her room, stripping her muddy clothing from her body and throwing it into a hamper. She paused, seeing a picture frame on her desk/vanity that held a photo of her and Isaac the day of Homecoming. She sniffed, holding back more tears, before striding into the bathroom to wash her body raw._

"I want to help her—I do—but I don't know how," Stiles sighed, "Actually the funny thing is, as of right now, Lydia is the one who seems the most normal."

"And what about you, Stiles?" Ms. Morrell asked, "Feeling some anxiety about that championship game tomorrow night?"

Stiles looked up from his teeth gnawing at the rope of his net, "Why would you ask me that?" He spit out the rope, "Ah. Uh, no. I—I never actually play. But hey, since one of my teammates is in jail and another one's missing, who knows, right?"

"You mean, Isaac," Morrell realized, "One of the three runaways. You haven't heard from any of them, have you?"

"How come you're not taking any notes on this?" Stiles noticed out loud.

"I do my notes after the session," she told him.

"Your memory's that good?" Stiles asked her suspiciously.

"How about we get back to you?" Morrell deflected, "Stiles?"

"I'm fine," Stiles said softly, "Yeah, aside from the not sleeping, the jumpiness, the constant, overwhelming, crushing fear that something terrible's about to happen."

"It's called hyper-vigilance," Ms. Morrell informed him, "the persistent feeling of being under threat."

"But it's not just a feeling, though," Stiles told her, "It's—it's like it's a panic attack. You know, like I can't even breath."

"Like you're drowning?" She asked him intuitively.

"Yeah."

"So if you're drowning," She started, "and you're trying to keep your mouth closed until that very—last—moment, what if you choose to not open your mouth? To not let the water in?"

"You do anyway," Stiles pointed out, "It's a reflex."

"But if you hold off until that reflex kicks in," She suggested, "You have more time, right?"

"Not much time," Stiles argued pessimistically.

"But more time to fight your way to the surface?" Morrell noted.

"I guess," Stiles agreed reluctantly.

"More time to be rescued?"

"More time to be in agonizing pain. I mean, did you forget about the part where you feel like your head's exploding?" He asked her sarcastically.

"If it's about survival," Morrell mentioned rhetorically, "isn't a little agony worth it?"

"But what if it just gets worse?" Stiles asked her, "What if it's agony now and then—and it's just hell later on?"

"Then think about something Winston Churchill once said," the counselor started confidently, "If you're going through hell—keep going."

* * *

Scott shut off the shower and stepped out, wrapping his waist in a beige towel. He froze when he sensed another presence and he ran into his room, seeing Gerard sitting in his chair with a gun readily pointed toward the teen wolf.

"What are you doing here?"

"We needed to talk," Gerard stated, "You don't answer you're phone."

"Get out of here," Scott warned, clutching the towel to his hips.

"I think you'll see that I've got the upper hand here," The old man waved the gun above his head briefly and Scott noticed a red dot appear on his skin. He looked out the window behind Gerard and noticed a sniper ready and willing to kill him without a moments hesitation—on the roof of the house next door.

"What do you want?" Scott groaned, resigned.

"I think it's obvious, Scott," Gerard patronized, growing more hostile, "I want to know who the new kanima master is."

"What makes you think I know who controls him now?" Scott asked incredulously.

"I think with the proper motivation, you could figure it out," Gerard stated, "And then I want Derek and his pack."

"They're all in hiding," Scott told him, "How am I supposed to know any of this?"

"Because, Scott, you know the legend," Gerard condescended, "the kanima is a weapon of vengeance. Only a person with vengeance on their mind can control it."

"I don't know anyone like that," Scott replied earnestly, "But wait—that's why you want to control him. For Kate?"

"I didn't just come here to bury my daughter," Gerard growled, raising his voice, "I came to avenge her!" he smacked Scott into the side of his face before stalking out of the room, "I'll be waiting to hear from you, Scott."

* * *

Jessie ran her charcoal pencil across the thick stationary of her sketch pad absently. She didn't look up when she heard the door of Ms. Morrell's office open and Stiles walk out. And she didn't jolt when she felt Stiles' hand rest on her shoulder, but she did look up to him then with wide eyes.

"Jessie?" Stiles tried to get her full attention, but her face just looked carefully blank when she looked at him, "It's your turn..."

Jessie looked between him and Ms. Morrell patiently waiting in the doorway of her office. "'Course. Sorry." She hastily stood up, ignoring Stiles and walked into the office, briskly sitting down.

The counselor closed her door and took a seat at her desk, leaning back in her chair, "Where would you like to start, Jessica?"

"It's Jessie," the teenager immediately corrected, "And you're the shrink—you tell me where we start."

"Well," Ms. Morrell started, pondering the path to get Jessie to open up, "Why do you think you're here?"

"My mom's worries about me," Jessie sighed, "She doesn't know what's been happening to me. And she doesn't know how it's affected me. So she wants me to talk to you."

"Do you believe that you should be here?" The shrink asked her.

Jessie averted her eyes to the sketchbook in her lap and shrugged, "I guess I've gone through a lot... but it's not like I have no one to talk to."

"Can you talk to your friends?" Morrell asked her, "About what's happened the past few months?"

"Of course I can," Jessie answered without hesitation.

"But will you?" Morrell rephrased, knowing the catch to the word 'can'.

Jessie did hesitate this time, "I don't know..."

"If I tell you something Stiles mentioned just now," Morrell started, "Could you keep it to yourself?"

"Aren't you not allowed to talk about what's said in other sessions?" Jessie asked her in response.

"If it has to do with you and I believe it may get a response, than that's a risk I'm willing to take," Morrell replied calmly.

Jessie sighed, "Fine—what did Stiles say?"

Ms. Morrell folded her hands on top of her desk, "He's worried about you. He says you have nightmares but you won't talk to him. And sometimes you call him or Scott and hang up before they can answer."

"I change my mind—a lot," Jessie hedged, feeling uncomfortable that she was such a source of concern for Stiles that he brought her up in counseling sessions that were meant to help him.

"He wants to be there for you, Jessie," Morrell told her softly, "But you aren't letting him—or anyone else."

"Is there a question in there?" Jessie asked, picking up her charcoal pen and getting back to the sketch she was working on.

"My questions is—why?" Morrell elaborated.

"Because they shouldn't worry about me," Jessie insisted, "They should worry about their own problems—I don't want to add to them."

"But you need to work on your problems too, Jessie, you deserve to work on yourself," Morrell compassionately instigated.

"But I don't wanna be a problem," Jessie admitted, "I want to be who I was before I moved here. I was fine and normal. I didn't know what it was like to shoot a gun at an actual person or run for my life from monsters. I was blissfully naive. And I liked it that way."

"But you're not that girl anymore, are you?"

Jessie ran her pencil across the thick paper, not looking up, "No, I'm not."

"You know people don't stay the same forever," Morrell told her gently, "They grow and evolve around every obstacle they face. That's how the evolution of man and animal kind works. Whenever the environment changes—however hostile—we change with it."

"But what if you don't like those changes?" Jessie asked in a small voice.

"Then you keep evolving," Morrell replied simply.

Jessie sighed, pausing to blow on the paper and keep drawing.

The counselor's interest piqued, "May I see what you're drawing?"

Jessie's hand stalled over the paper and her shoulders tensed, staring down at the life like sketch of Isaac's smiling face. She reluctantly handed her sketchbook to Ms. Morrell.

"Isaac Lahey," she recognized, "One of the three runaways. He's important to you," she noticed, handing the drawing back.

Jessie looked down at it with resignation, "He was."

"He's the one you really want to be talking to," Morrell intuitively sensed.

Jessie hastily closed the sketchbook and put it away in her bag, "He's not here."

"But you wish he was," She replied knowingly.

Jessie sighed, "But he's not. It doesn't matter what I want—he's just... not."

"Life will have it's bumps in the roads, it's disappointments, Jessie," Ms. Morrell started, "The challenges we face aren't really the challenges we must overcome. The challenge is to come out on the other side, because you're a good person."

"Someone once told me that war does not determine who is right—only who is left," Jessie leaned back in her seat.

"Do you feel like you're in a war?" Morrell caught on.

Jessie shrugged, "I've been attacked enough times to feel like it's just one big battle after the other," she picked at her finger nails, "If that's not war... I don't know what is."

"And which side are you on?" Ms. Morrell asked cautiously, like the answer actually mattered for something.

"Mine," Jessie answered immediately, "My friends, Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Jackson. My family. I'll do anything for them."

"That's a good side to be on," She mumbled gracefully.

"But..." Jessie trailed off dejectedly, "What if I lose?"

"You know of Martin Luther King Jr.," Ms. Morrell stated, "Well, he once said that 'we must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lost infinite hope.'"

* * *

"So Gerard wants to figure out who the kanima master is and kill them so he can being the kanima master?" Stiles summed up.

Scott sighed deeply, "We can't let him know that it's Jessie."

Stiles nodded in agreement, "But how can Jessie be the kanima master? Who does she want vengeance for?"

"Her birth parents were murdered," Scott pointed out, "And someone tried to murder her too, remember?"

"But she doesn't even know who," Stiles argued.

"I guess that doesn't matter," Scott shrugged, "It still happened and I'm sure she wouldn't be heartbroken if the people who murdered her parents were killed."

"Jessie's not like Matt," Stiles said sternly.

"I'm not saying that she is," Scott told him, "But it doesn't mean she wouldn't like to punish whoever got away with killing her parents. I don't think she'll use the kanima to do it, but that still must be the reason she was able to bond with Jackson."

* * *

Jessie typed into her computer at work, scheduling appointments made over the phone and doing electronic inventory work when she heard the door creak open. "Give me one second and I'll be right with you."

"I have time," a familiar voice answered her.

Jessie gasped as she stood and stared at Isaac standing sheepishly and shyly in front of her on the other side of the gate. His hand stuck in his pockets and his shoulders a little hunched. In that moment, he looked like her Isaac. He looked shy and insecure but sincere. "Isaac..."

Suddenly all the dogs in the office started barking, catching the attention of Deaton and Scott as they walked up to the front. Deaton gave the teen wolf a comforting expression, "It's okay, Isaac. We're open."

* * *

Derek sighed, sitting in his camaro outside the apartment building Marissa lived in. He stared down at his phone, wondering whether or not he should call her.

He finally grew some balls and hit send on her contact, listening intently to the dial tone and waiting for her to answer.

"Hey this is Marissa," he heard her answering machine, "I'm not available but leave a message and I'll get back to you..."

Derek sighed and closed his phone.

* * *

Isaac leaned on his hands against the metal table as Deaton and Scott stood at the sides of it and Jessie leaned against the counter behind Scott. A fluffy doggy laid out on the table before them. Isaac stared curiously at the dog, "Why does it smell like that?" Scott, Deaton and Jessie shared a look making Isaac ask, "What?"

"Scott said almost the same thing to me a few months ago," Deaton told him, "One day he could somehow tell the difference between which animals were getting better and which... were not."

Isaac gazed down at the whimpering dog sadly, "He's not getting better, is he?"

Deaton shared in the concern and sadness and slowly shook his head. Jessie wrung her hands in her lap.

"Is it cancer?" Isaac asked, to which Deaton nodded.

"Osteosarcoma. It has a very distinct scent, doesn't it? Come here," Deaton held out his hand for Isaac. The teen wolf looked at Scott and Jessie, both nodded that it was okay, so he trust Deaton and stepped closer. "I know you're well away of what your new abilities can do for you. Improved strength, speed, and healing... You ever wonder what it could do for others?"

Isaac's blank face was answer enough so Deaton held out his hand, "Give me your hand." Isaac gave his hand to the vet and he pressed the boy's pale hand to the dog's back gently. Isaac breathed out in shock and awe when he noticed his veins fill with black hue that shot up through his arm. He felt some discomfort as he slowly pried his hand away from the dog, staring at it, "What did I do?"

"You took some of his pain away," Scott revealed to him with a small smile on his face.

"Only a little bit," Deaton elaborated.

"But sometimes a little can make a big difference," Jessie cut in quietly, making Isaac meet her eyes.

His eyes began to water as he pressed his wrist to his face to try and hold them back.

"It's okay," Scott reassured him, "First time he showed me, I cried too."

Isaac looked back up at Scott and Jessie, starting to laugh in wonder at the good deed he accomplished. Becoming a werewolf was supposed to be for the best. But everything that came with it only ended up hurting the people around him—namely Jessie, the very girl he'd gotten the bite for. Every bit of his decision had been for selfish reasons. And finally, he could do something good. He could finally do something that helped someone.

He felt like himself for once in a long time.

* * *

"It's quite a situation you've got yourself in here, Derek," Peter patronized, "I mean, I'm out of commission for a few weeks and suddenly there's lizard people, geriatric psychopaths, and you're cooking up werewolves out of every self-esteem-deprived adolescent in town."

"What do you want?" Derek growled blankly, in absolutely no mood for his uncle's games.

"Well, I want to help," Peter told him, surprisingly enough, "You're my nephew. The only relative that I have left. You know, there's still a lot that I can teach you. Can we just talk?"

"Sure," Derek huffed impatiently, "Let's talk."

* * *

Jessie went back to her desk to finish the electronic inventory while Scott cleaned up in the back room. Isaac stared down at the ground, leaning against the metal table. He spoke suddenly, "They're leaving tonight, during the game."

"So, why are you telling me?" Scott asked as he walked in front of Isaac to put bottles away.

"I'm not telling you," Isaac corrected, "I'm asking you. I'm asking for your advice."

"From me?" Scott's mouth gaped, "Why?"

Isaac answered, "Because I trust you."

"Why?" Scott asked again.

Isaac shrugged, "Because you always seem to want to do the right thing."

"I usually have no idea what I'm doing," Scott admitted, pausing before amending, "Actually I always have no idea what I'm doing."

Isaac hummed, "Do you want to let me know what you're doing right now?" Isaac asked him.

"I'm not going anywhere if that's what you mean," Scott told him, "I have too many people here who need me."

"Well, I guess that makes me lucky 'cause uh-" he broke off, not wanting to admit how alone he felt, "'cause I don't have anyone, so."

"That's not true," Scott argued softly.

Isaac tried to walk down the hall but Scott tugged on his arm to make him stop so they were still out of ear shot of Jessie. "Isaac... she still loves you."

Isaac looked down the hall, catching sight of the back of Jessie's head, her hand running through her dark hair habitually. He always loved it when she did that. Except whenever she was stressed. He could tell the difference. If her hands pulled at the ends of her hair then she was really stressed. He watched as her pail fingers lightly gripped at the ends of her hair and sighed heavily, "She doesn't want me."

"You know you have super hearing, right?" Scott asked, clearly having a point in mind, "Don't you ever listen to her heartbeat?"

"When I want to know if she's telling the truth," Isaac answered, "Otherwise no..."

"Well I was listening to it right before you came in," Scott told him, "Just to make sure she's okay when I can't see her. And when I heard the door open—when you walked in—and she saw you... her heartbeat paused and started again, slightly faster."

Isaac wasn't really understanding based on his blank look.

"Her heart literally skipped a beat when she saw you," Scott told him with a small smile.

* * *

Marissa stared down at her phone, telling her that she had two missed calls from Derek. She tried to hold back tears as she sighed through her nose.

* * *

There was a knock at Allison's bedroom door, causing the girl to look up upon her grandfather's arrival. "Hey," Allison greeted, still doing English homework, "What's going on?"

"Well," Gerard started, "I'm sure you know that there's still a threat out there. Your friend Jackson is still the kanima. But this time, we don't know whose controlling him."

"What makes you think that I know?" Allison asked, but inwardly she was panicking. She had walked in on Jessie bonding with the lizard Jackson before running off. But she couldn't possibly give Jessie up to her grandfather. Who knows what he would do to her?

"I know your first instinct is to protect your friends," Gerard admitted, "But you never turn your back on your family. Because in the end, your friends will come and go—but in the end... it's your family that is there for you. And it's your family that you must protect."

"You don't have to worry," Allison said, "Jackson won't hurt anyone anymore. Matt's gone and in jail."

"You think it's Matt we were worried about?" He patronized her, laughing in his throat, "No—whoever controls this abomination can not be trusted. The kanima's seductive pull to use for revenge is much too strong for anyone to possibly resist. Sooner or later, whoever the new master is, they'll use your friend to kill."

"Then whoever they do kill must deserve it right?" Allison pointed out, "The kanima only kills murderers."

"And you know that eventually that won't matter," Gerard argued, "And this monster will kill whoever it's told to."

"You don't have anything to worry about," Allison said.

Gerard rested a wrinkled weak hand on her shoulder, brushing her hair behind her back, "It's not me that I'm worried about, my dear. I know you trust your friends, but they've let you down before... and I know you don't want more people getting hurt..."

* * *

Isaac had just walked out the door, and Jessie didn't even look at him as he left. He made it a little ways down the sidewalk when he heard footsteps pounding on the pavement behind him and Jessie voice called out, "Isaac wait!"

He turned around just as Jessie caught up with him. Her eyes were shining with unfallen tears as she desperately searched for something to say.

"What, Jessie?" Isaac asked hardly, not wanting her to say that he was right, that he really didn't have a reason to say.

But what she did say, shocked him. "Don't go."

His eyes snapped up to hers, widened, "What?"

"Please don't go," Jessie pleaded, "I have the most horrible feeling about it and I couldn't convince Baako not to go but I need to try and convince you."

"Baako's not leaving, Jessie," Isaac told her, "He's just helping us leave and then he'll be back."

"That's the plan," Jessie agreed, but shook her head, "But something awful is going to happen."

Isaac hesitated, listening to what she was saying, "I can't stay, Jessie. The war is over and we lost."

Jessie shook her head tearfully, "No, it's not over. It can't be over." A tear tracked its way down her face.

Isaac held back from catching the drop of moisture on his finger, "There's nothing here for me anymore. My dad's gone. My whole family is dead."

Jessie sighed heavily, "That's not true. People here need you. You have family in us. Please—Isaac, I'm begging you. Don't go."

"Why do you not want me to go so badly?" Isaac asked, in suspense for the answer.

"Because I still love you," Jessie whispered to him, "I never stopped. And we kept saying that we would talk and we kept putting it off and I'm starting to feel sick at the thought of losing you forever. Please-"

Isaac interrupted her by smashing his lips to her passionately, finally reveling in the feeling of finally having her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved her lips with his, capturing his bottom lip in her teeth briefly before running her tongue over the bite to sooth it. He groaned into her mouth as he felt his fangs poke out of his mouth and his nails sharpen and lengthen on her hips, startling her. They broke away, both panting at the exertion.

Isaac sighed, it was too dangerous to be with her, "Jessie..."

"I know..." Jessie sniffed, crying freely now, "Can we just pretend for five minutes?"

Isaac brushed her hair away from her face and cupped it on either side with both of his hands, "Of course..."

* * *

Jessie sighed into her hands as she stood in front of Stiles. She smiled when she noticed Melissa walk in. It looked like the mama was making an effort to accept her cub. Coach Finstock called everyone's attention, "Good morning," talking into a fake radio with some sort of pilot jacket on, "In less than an hour, aircrafts from here will be joining others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind."

"What?" Melissa asked incredulously.

"Mankind—that word should have a new meaning for all of us today," Finstock paused.

"What the hell is he talking about?" Melissa asked Stiles.

Stiles stared blankly at his coach, "He does this every year."

"Seriously?" the nurse asked.

Stiles nodded reluctantly, "Yeah."

"We are fighting for our right to live," Finstock said.

"Yeah," the lacrosse team shouted.

"Wait," Jessie started to realize, "This is the speech from Independence Day."

"But as the day the world declared in one voice-" Coach Finstock went on.

"It's his favorite movie," Stiles told her.

"We will not go quietly into the night!"

"He doesn't know any sports speeches?" Melissa asked.

"I don't think he cares," Stiles answered.

"Today we celebrate our Independence Day!"

The team shouted along in excitement and agreement. Gerard came up behind Coach and slapped a playful hand on his shoulder, "Well spoken, coach. I might have chosen something with a little more historical value, but there's no denying your passion. And while I haven't been here long, there's no denying my pride in having a winning team for this school. I know you'll all be brilliant tonight, even with only one co-captain leading you," his eyes met Scott's and the teen boy's eyes widened. "Now, I may be your principal, but I'm also a fan. So don't think I'll be content to watch you merely beat this team," his eyes made contact with Jessie's and she felt a chill rip down her spine at the sight of his grin, "Get out there and murder them!"

"You heard the man," Coach Finstock called out, "Asses on the field!"

The team screamed and charged outside, but Jessie stood frozen in her spot as Scott went to talk with the lacrosse coach. Stiles put a hand on her shoulder, "Jessie—come on."

"He knows," Jessie murmured.

"Knows what?" Melissa asked the girl.

"He knows I'm the kanima master now," Jessie whispered.

* * *

Melissa and Jessie found a seat next to Stiles' dad. Jessie bundled her sweater around her tighter and sighed heavily, thinking back to Isaac as he walked away from her. She felt an ice-hot pain settle deep into her chest that she idly equated to what heartbreak must feel like.

Melissa put her arm around the girl, "Are you okay, sweetie?"

Jessie shook her head, "No—I'm not."

Melissa comfortingly rubbed her hand up and down Jessie's arm as if to warm her up, "Don't worry. Whatever it is, will work out the way it's supposed to."

"Oh no," Sheriff Stilinski groaned, "Why is my son running out to the field?"

"Because he's on the team?" Melissa suggested, confused.

"He is," the Sheriff realized. His face dawned with the realization that his son was on the team and actually going to play, "He's on the team. He's—he's on the field." He stood up with barely contained excitement as he pumped his fist into the air, "My son is on the field!"

Jessie and Melissa both smiled up at his excitement with amusement.

* * *

Scott grinned at his best friend's nervousness out on the field.

_"Scott, can you hear me?"_  Scott frowned immediately upon hearing Gerard's voice.  _"Ah, you can. Good. Then listen closely because the game is about to get interesting."_


	14. Ticking Clock

Argent hunters rode through the forest on four-wheelers with helmets and weapons to boot. They skidded to a stop. Chris and Allison Argent pulled up the visors on their bike helmets and Chris demanded, "Play it again."

Allison raised a remote of some kind and pressed the button on it. The night air filled with the sound of wolf howls coming from all sorts of directions. Chris closed down his visor and started the four-wheeler up again, leading the other hunters behind him and his daughter.

Baako and Erica cowered behind a tree, realizing it was all a trap. They never heard another pack. Baako held Erica in his arms and quietly swore to her, "Don't worry—I'll protect you."

* * *

_"Let's put a real clock on this game, Scott,"_  Gerard Argent said,  _"I'll give you until the last 30 seconds. When that scoreboard clock begins counting down from 30, if you haven't given me Derek... or Miss Hansen, then I've got snipers in the trees waiting for my signal to kill someone."_

Scott's eyes widened.

_"So tell me, Scott, who's gonna die tonight?"_  Gerard asked him,  _"Should it be your mother, who so bravely came out to support you? Or the Sheriff, your best friend's father? Or maybe I should cut this all short and have them kill Jessica. The innocent girl that you dragged into this whole mess. But we both know she's not so innocent, right Scott?"_

Scott glared at the grass, clenching his jaw at the implication. He turned to look at his friend, noticing Emily and Alex go to sit on the other side of her. Jessie's eyes met his and she noticed the expression on his face. She gave him a questioning look, as if to ask what was wrong. But he just turned back around.

_"It's up to you, Scott,"_  Gerard spoke ominously,  _"But you are going to help me take Derek down. Because if you don't—I'll have my men shoot someone right between the eyes in front of all these people—that you care about and love."_

* * *

Alex led Emily over to sit with Jessie. Emily quickly blew a kiss to Boyd for good luck and followed her brother up the bleachers. Jessie smiled at them and greeted them when she noticed Scott looking at her. There was a fear in his eyes aimed at her that made her narrow her eyes at him in confusion.

He just turned back around so she linked arms with Emily and started idle chit chat.

Alex smiled softly at the sight of Jessie and his sister, dreading the nightmarish turn the night was about to make. He sighed as he read the text he got from his father.

_Don't forget who our allies are._

* * *

Stiles jolted when the ball went to him and caught it in his net. He laughed in disbelief when he should have been running. Another player from the other team slammed into him.

Jessie, Emily and Melissa all cringed. "He's probably just warming up," Melissa suggested, but not really believing it herself so much.

Lydia gingerly walked up to them, "Hey guys." She seemed quieter and more grounded now-a-days. Less like the Lydia months ago that thought she was god's gift to men and that everyone was inferior to her. She was better now. She sat in front of Jessie as the girl leaned forward to hug her shoulders in greeting, "Good to see you."

Stiles stumbled on the field for the ball with his stick, "Ooh, I got it, I got it, I got it," but two players slammed into him, knocking him down. The whistle blew again.

Everyone cringed, "He's just nervous," Jessie suggested, "He's got time to get into the groove of things. He's not used to playing."

Boyd caught the ball next and started to pass it to Stiles, but the ball simply hit him in the head and the crowd started to boo. Sheriff Stilinski dug his head into his hands in frustration.

Scott tried to stand up and go in but Coach Finstock roughly sat him back down with a hand on his shoulder, "Sit down, McCall."

"But, Coach, we're dying out there," Scott protested.

"Oh, I'm aware of that," He answered, "Now sit."

Scott sighed in frustration just a body dropped down next to his. His eyes widened when he saw Isaac all dressed up in uniform. "You came to help."

Isaac smirked, "I came to win." He cast a look behind him and saw Jessie staring at him in awe, a slow smile growing on her face as tears gathered in her eyes.

Jessie stared on in shock as Isaac smiled at her, her heart soaring at the sight of him coming back. "He came back..." Emily looked at her upon hearing her and then followed her eyes and saw Isaac sitting next to Scott. Her face dropped as she shared a look with her brother who now looked angry and worried.

* * *

"Come on!" Erica screamed, "Run!"

"Run!" Baako yelled back at her, just behind her as they sprinted away from the four-wheelers chasing after them, "Run, Erica!"

The werewolves began to pant and sweat under the excursion as the engines of the vehicles behind them roared with the sound of crunched dry leaves under the large tires.

"Come on!" Erica screamed again as they weaved through the trees.

The two bikes came to a halt. Allison ripped off her helmet and swiftly dismounted, standing wide-stanced with her bow ready to strike. She quickly let an arrow escape her bow. It whistled through the air until it hit Erica right in her left thigh. The she-wolf let out a gasp of pain as she fell to the ground. Baako skidded to a stop and went back to get her but she yelled at him, "No! No, no, run."

Baako looked at her with disbelief, "Are you kidding? I'm not leaving you!"

"Go, Baako!" Erica pleaded, "Go!"

"No," He growled forcefully at her, his eyes glowing amber, briefly as he kneeled next to her and looked into her eyes, "I'm not leaving you."

* * *

"You got a plan yet?" Isaac asked Scott.

"Gerard has snipers ready to kill anyone if I don't give him Derek by the last 30 seconds," Scott explained, "Anyone. My mom. Stiles' dad. Jessie."

Isaac gave him a sharp look when he heard Jessie's name. He looked behind him at the girl in question, seeing her anxiousness for the game, unaware that there was a target on her face. "We have to get them out of here."

"Then he'll just kill anyone else," Scott pointed out, "We have to find a way to stop him. He wants Derek ultimately. But his plan was to use the kanima to get it. Now he knows that Jessie controls Jackson and he wants to kill her so he can be the master if I don't give him Derek before that."

Isaac sighed, his nostrils flaring in barely concealed rage, torn between love for Jessie and loyalty to his alpha. "Then let's make him believe we're giving him Derek." He stuffed his helmet on his head and ran out onto the field. As soon as the whistle blew he started slamming into the players from the other team, letting out his anger.

* * *

Erica whimpered as Baako broke the arrow in her leg. She screamed when she saw Allison stalk toward them, like a warrior on a mission, and let another arrow out. Baako caught it before it hit the flinching she-wolf behind him, growling at the huntress that was supposed to be his sister's friend.

"Allison," Baako called, "What are you doing?"

But her eyes didn't show recognition. Her eyes were cold as she strung another arrow and let it strike Baako in the stomach. He grunted in pain as Erica whimpered at the sight of his face contorting in discomfort. Allison let another arrow that hit Baako in his shoulder. Baako snapped his teeth and stood there, taking it. Because if Allison focused on hurting him—then she wasn't hurting Erica.

"Stop!" Erica shouted.

* * *

Jessie sighed, watching Scott on the bench, Stiles struggling to play, and Isaac trying to keep an eye on everything. She knew she could use Jackson to help. But she promised she wouldn't make him hurt people. Even if those people were bad guys. He had total free will with her as his master.

She stood, rubbing her chilly hands together, and told the others that she had to go to the bathroom.

* * *

Allison let another arrow hit Baako in the chest. Baako growled, lifting his hand to the wound, still standing in front of Erica. She struggled on the ground as tears leaked from her eyes, desperately wishing she was strong enough to help Baako—who risked his life for her on more than one occasion.

"Stop!" Erica pleaded, "Please, Allison, Stop!"

But the cold faced girl didn't listen as she strung up another arrow, this time aiming for the heart. Before the arrow could escape though, a bullet rang through the air, hitting the bow out of her hands. She and the werewolves looked at Chris in shock, who was holding a gun with a pained look on his face like doing that had been the last thing he had wanted. The same look on his face he had when he was forced to point a gun at his own sister.

* * *

Scott rocked in his seat on the bench as the game played on. He jolted when he heard Gerard's voice ask him,  _"Don't you know what you're really bargaining for, Scott?"_  He whipped his head to look at the bench where Gerard had been sitting, only to see it empty. He hazardously looked around to try and find him, to no avail.  _"Haven't you guessed what the real offer on the table is? It's Allison."_  Scott's eyes widened,  _"It's always been Allison. You give me Derek, and I'll let you have Allison."_

* * *

Allison gazed at her now-broken weapon, murmuring heartlessly, "You owe me a new bow."

"You owe me an explanation," Chris shot back at her.

Allison scoffed, "For what? I caught them. Me."

"Caught came very close to kill," Chris glared at her, "And that's not the way we do this."

"Maybe it's not the way you do it," she replied thoughtlessly with snark, "I think my way worked out pretty well."

"Allison-" Chris started, but his daughter held her hand up to silence him as she held her phone up to her ear, "Hey grandpa, it's me. We got our two runaways. Call us back." She hung up her phone and stuffed in her pocket as her father stared at her in shock, "What?"

"It's just the first time I've heard you call him that," Chris muttered, feeling the sting of revelation dawn on him as he realized what was happening. Gerard got to her. Somehow.

* * *

Derek sat on the stairs as Peter stood in front of him, "You tried to build your pack. You tried to prepare for the worst. You weren't ready. Because of it, Gerard is winning. He's taking his time. He's toying with Scott. He's going after your wolves and Jessie. He's relishing in his victory."

"How about you tell me something I don't know," Derek glared.

"Oh, I'm going to," Peter answered, "And it's gonna prove why you should trust me. Why you need to trust me. Because I'm going to tell you how to stop Jackson."

"What do you mean?" Derek asked confused, "You know how to kill him?"

"Actually," Peter paused, tilting his head, "how to save him."

* * *

Stiles shuffled to get the ball, catching it in his net and pausing at the guarded goal in front of him as the other team advanced behind him.

"Oh, crap," Sheriff Stilinski groaned into his hands.

"Stilinski!" Coach Finstock shouted into his cupped hands, "Shoot it. Shoot the ball! Shoot it, you idiot!"

"You can do this Stiles!" Sheriff Stilinski shouted at the top of his lungs, proudly.

Stiles squared his shoulders and whipped the ball forward. It made contact with the corner of the net of the goal. And the crowd broke into cheers.

"I scored a goal?" Stiles squeaked to himself, the fact dawning on him slowly and warmly, "I scored a goal!" He thrust his arms into the air in victory, "I scored a goal!"

* * *

"There's a myth that you can cure a werewolf simply by calling out its Christian name," Peter told his nephew.

"It's just a myth," Derek sighed.

"Sometimes myths and legends bear a hint of truth," Peter revealed, "Our name is a symbol of who we are. The kanima has no identity. That's why it doesn't seek a pack."

"It seeks a master," Derek murmured.

Peter nodded, coaxing him to keep going, "And who else grows up with no pack? No identity?"

"An orphan," Derek realized.

"Like Jackson," Peter agreed, the conversation going exactly where he needed it to go, "And right now, his identity is disappearing beneath a reptilian skin and you need to bring him back."

"How?"

"Through his heart," Peter hissed excitedly, "How else?"

"You know, in case you hadn't noticed," Derek started haughtily, "Jackson doesn't really have too much of a heart to begin with."

"The same could be said for you or me," Peter shut him up. Derek glared, but couldn't tell him that it wasn't true. "He'd never admit it, but there is one person. One young lady with whom Jackson shared a real bond. Other than Jessie. One person who can reach him—save him."

"Lydia," Derek caught on.

"Your best ally has always been anger, Derek," Peter replied, "but what you lack most is a heart. It may be slowly building back with that ol' High School gal pal, but-" he paused when Derek glared at him with a confused edge, shocked that his uncle knew about Marissa. Peter gave him a look, "What? You thought I wouldn't notice? Anyway, heart is the key to everything. That's why you always knew you needed Scott. And even somebody as burned and dead on the inside as me knows better than to underestimate the simple yet undeniable power of human love."

* * *

There was almost no time on the clock. The crowd was cheering like crazy as Stiles scored with the help of his teammates again and again. Suddenly, the buzzer sounded and the fans screamed.

Coach Finstock laughed in amazement, "We did it! We won!"

The Sheriff and Melissa shared a celebratory hug as Emily hugged her brother and Lydia. Lydia frowned at Jessie's empty seat, "She never came back? She missed the rest of the game."

"That is a long time for her to be in the bathroom," Melissa admitted, getting worried, knowing Jessie was involved in whatever her son was involved in.

"I'm sure she went for snacks or something," Emily told them forcefully, sharing a concealed look with her brother.

Suddenly the lights overhead shot off one by one, plunging the field into complete darkness.

People began to scream when a shot rang through the air.

Scott shot up from his seat and tried to navigate through the field as he heard his mom shouting, "Scott! Scott, where are you? Scott!"

"Mom!" Scott called out for her, "Mom, mom!" Her body slammed into his and he steadied her, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine," She told him, "But somebody is hurt. Somebody is down on the field. And I can't find Jessie anywhere. She went to the bathroom after halftime and never came back."

Scott swallowed down his wide-eyed fear for his friend as he and his mom made there way toward the huddling group as one by one, the overhead lights came back on. They got closer and saw Jackson lying unconscious on the floor, a bullet wound in his stomach.

"Get out of the way," Coach Finstock ordered, pushing teens away from Jackson, "Move. Back off! Move!" He kneeled next to the co-captain.

"Jackson?" Lydia called out a little ways away, started to run for the boy, "What's happened to Jackson? Jackson!" She came to stand over Jackson's head, "Jackson, what's happening?"

"Can we get a medic over here?" Coach Finstock shouted as Melissa crouched over the boy and bent to press her ear to his chest. "We're gonna need a medic!"

"He's not breathing," Melissa sighed, reaching for his neck, "No pulse."

"Nothing?" Coach Finstock asked incredulous with worry.

"Nothing," Melissa breathed as she went to pull up Jackson's jersey, revealing the gray top underneath stained with crimson blood.

"Oh-" Coach cut off.

"Oh, my God," Lydia gasped loudly, "There's blood. There's blood."

Scott gaped, "They shot Jackson. He can't heal unless he transforms."

"But he can't transform if Jessie doesn't say so," Isaac said, looking around, "So let's get her. Where is she?"

Scott slowly looked at the other wolf, hesitating, "Isaac..."

The boy looked at him, not getting the clue, "What?"

"Jessie's missing," Scott reluctantly informed him as Melissa instructed Lydia on how to help her resuscitate Jackson's body.

The Sheriff looked around the screaming and running people, "Stiles. Where's Stiles!?" He looked around to no avail. Scott heard him and got even more worried. "Where—where's my son? Where's Stiles?" The man started stopping people to ask them, "Where's Stiles? Where's Stiles?" He paused when no one told him anything, "Where the hell is my son?"


	15. A Truce if You Will

Stiles grunted in discomfort, whining, "Ow, ow." as one of the Argent hunters roughly shoved him down the basement stairs of the Argent household, "Ow. ow."

He stumbled and leaned heavily against the wall. He heard a low growl and shuddered, starting to get fearful. He blindly reached across the wall trying to feel for a light switch. His fingers came in contact with one at the end of the stairs and lights filled the room. Stiles gasped when he saw Baako and Erica suspended in the air by their wrists with duct tape covering their mouths and wires pasted to their bodies, connected to some kind of generator or something. It was obvious that they were being tortured.

Baako violently gestured with his eyes and his head to something next to Stiles and the boy cursed loudly when he noticed what it was. Jessie was strapped and gagged in a chair by a desk in the corner, forced to face her brother and Erica while their writhed in pain and desperation. Her eyes were wide and staring at Stiles with the silent plea to untie her.

Stiles immediately knelt next to her and began to untie her hands, pausing to rip off the duct tape over her mouth. She greedily gulped in a huge breath, lightly panting, "Oh my god, Stiles, I'm so glad you're here. We need to get out. We need to get them out."

"Shhh," Stiles told her, "Don't make any noise, I'm sure they're listening or something."

Jessie sniffed slightly, "Okay."

Stiles looked up at her after releasing her bound wrists. She rubbed them uncomfortably as he asked her, "How'd they get you?"

She ran a hand through her hair, her fingertips tugging on the ends, "I went to the bathroom and one of the hunters surprised me from behind. You?"

"They got me when the lights went off on the field," Stiles answered as they both stood to try and figure out how to free Baako and Erica.

* * *

"I got to meet with the medical examiner. I've got an APB out on Stiles. His jeep is still in the parking lot, so that means-" Sheriff Stilinski paused, rubbing his face in worry and frustration as he spoke to Scott and an agitated Isaac in the boys locker room. "Ah hell, I don't know what that means. Um—look, if he answers his phone, if he answers his emails, if either one of you see him-"

"We'll call you," Isaac finished sharply.

"Look, he's probably just freaked out from all the attention or something. We'll find him," Scott tried to ease the father's worries.

"Yeah," he sighed quietly, "I'll see you, okay?"

The Sheriff followed a group of players out as slowly people started filing out of the locker room. Isaac fidgeted as Coach Finstock clapped Scott on the shoulder, "McCall. We need you on the team, okay? You know I can't put you on the field next season if you don't get your grades up."

"Yeah, I know, coach," Scott answered dutifully.

"All right," Coach murmured, starting to walk away but turning back, "I mean, I—I know I yell a lot, but it's not like I hate you guys... Well, I kind of hate Greenburg, but, you know, that's different. It's Greenburg," he laughed awkwardly, trying to lighten the somewhat emotional situation, "I'm just saying we—I need you on the team. Get your grades back up."

Scott nodded, "I will."

"I know," Coach agreed, finally walking away from the scene.

"Is that everyone?" Scott asked as the coach exited the gym.

Isaac excitedly peered around, "I think so." He heard the crunch of metal and looked behind him to see Scott had literally ripped Stiles' locker door and threw it to the ground. "You're gonna find him by scent?"

"Yeah, we both are," Scott said, handing him a shoe.

Isaac threw the shoe back into the locker, "No—you find Stiles. I'm going to find Jessie."

"The same people who took Stiles, took Jessie too," Scott told him, "Gerard has both of them. We find Stiles, we find Jessie."

Isaac sighed, reluctantly accepting the logic but still wanting to barge out of locker room and tear into anything in his way to finding Jessie.

"We need to talk," Derek suddenly appeared in front of them. Peter peaked in behind him, "All of us."

"Holy shit!" Scott bursted.

* * *

"Shh!" Stiles goaded Erica as he reached up to try and untie her. But the ropes violently shocked him, "Ow!"

"They were trying to warn you," Gerard's voice filled the room as the door above slammed open, "It's electrified." He stomped slowly down the steps.

"What are you doing with them?" Stiles demanded.

"At the moment," Gerard started, leaning against the wall at the end of the stairs, "just keeping them comfortable. There's no point in torturing them, they won't give Derek up. The instinct to protect their Alpha's too strong."

"Okay," Stiles accepted the answer gingerly, "So what are you doing with us?" he gestured to himself and Jessie, "Because Scott can find me, all right? He knows my scent. And if you think Isaac isn't going to stop at nothing until he has Jessie back and you'll possibly be any kind of obstacle to him, then you've got another thing coming. They could find both of us even if we were buried at the bottom of a sewer covered in fecal matter and urine."

Gerard laughed with amusement, "You have a knack for creating a vivid picture, Mr. Stilinski. Let me paint one of my own," He started to sound threatening, stepping up to face Stiles head on, "Scott McCall finds his best friend bloodied and beaten to a pulp. And Isaac Lahey finds his girlfriend dead, tragic animal attack."

Stiles stepped slightly to the side in front of Jessie, "I think I might prefer more of a still life or landscape, you know?" He paused, looking down at the old man, "What—what are you, 90? Look, I can probably kick your ass up and down this roo-"

But Stiles was cut off short when Gerard slammed his fist into the teen boy's face, knocking him down to the ground. Jessie gasped sharply as the old hunter leaned over Stiles' body and repeatedly hitting him.

Jessie felt something burn within her. It was like that day in the gym when things slowed down enough so that she could save Erica from falling from the wall. Her eyes glowed a brilliant cobalt blue so bright it almost looked like she had no pupils at all. With a strength she was only now figuring out that she had, she lifted Gerard up from Stiles by his neck and smashed him into the wall by the stairs.

Gerard stared at her wide-eyed as a growl ripped its way slowly up her throat, "You don't want to do things like that, Gerard." Her voice got lower as her tone bled with fierceness and eerie calmness that made everyone in the room stare at her. "You don't want to test me—all you've been doing is testing me. And I don't like that. I'm actually pretty sick of it. I'M SICK OF YOU AND YOUR FUCKING VENDETTAS!"

The door banged open and Allison stood in the doorway, already holding up a crossbow to shoot at one of her best friends without a second thought. She let the arrow go but it didn't hit. Jessie caught it in a blur of motion with her left hand and snapped it like a twig before throwing it on the ground.

"Allison..." Jessie tilted her head to look at her once-friend, her eyes still glowing, "Will you be a dear and get me your father? I have some things to discuss."

* * *

"What the hell is this?" Scott exclaimed, still staring on in shock at Peter. So did Isaac.

"You know, I thought the same thing when I saw you talking to Gerard at the sheriff's station," Derek shot back, glaring coldly.

"Okay, hold on," Scott gaped, "He—he threatened to kill my mom. And I had to get close to him. what was I supposed to do?"

"I'm gonna go with Scott on this one," Peter murmured with a smirk, "Have you seen his mom? She's gorgeous."

"Shut up," both Scott and Derek yelled at him.

The ex-alpha raised his hands in mock-surrender with an amused eye roll.

"How is he alive?" Isaac asked, breaking the tense moment.

"The short version is he knows how to stop Jackson. And maybe how to save him," Derek changed the subject.

"Well, that's very helpful except Jackson's dead," Isaac revealed to them.

Both Derek and Peter looked at the teenagers in shock but it was Derek who asked, "What?"

"Yeah, Jackson's dead," Scott told the, explaining, "Gerard had hunters hiding out around the field. They shot him just after the lights went out after the game ended."

"Why do you guys look like that?" Isaac asked, referencing the werewolves' calculating and worried expressions.

"Because Gerard wanted Jackson for himself, so if he killed him, he had a reason," Peter answered.

"Why?" Derek asked out loud.

Peter blew out air through his mouth in a loud sigh, "Well, that's exactly what we need to figure out. And something tells me the window of opportunity is closing. Quickly."

* * *

"Sit," Jessie demanded with no room in her tone of voice for any games. Stiles stood behind her as Chris sat down on the couch next to Gerard. Gerard still looked shocked. But he looked pretty pleased as well. Allison stood in the archway between the living room and the kitchen, her arms folded in front of her. "Now we're not going to do this the easy way," Jessie started, "And we're not gonna do this the hard way. We're gonna do this my way."

"Listen-" Gerard started.

But Jessie's eyes flashed blue and she growled at him to cut him off, "I'm still talking."

"Jessie," Stiles goaded quietly, calming her down. But he knew he could just barely reign her in. She was different now. And he didn't know who could well and truly calm her down.

She straightened up, her posture perfect and broad, smirking at the men on the couch, determined not to let her eyes fall anywhere close to Allison. "Now, I know you think you've got the upper hand. The power. Since you're so... mature..." she drawled, giving Gerard an obvious look before flitting her eyes to Allison. The girl shrunk a little under her gaze, but determinedly raised her chin in defiance.

"But the thing is," Jessie continued, "That you're just an old man with a crutch. And when that crutch is knocked out from under you, you'll fall and you'll fall far and hard. And I'll be there to make sure you stay down."

"That's where you're wrong, dear," Gerard cut her off, "You have no idea who I have on my side."

"You mean dear Aunt Wanda?" Jessie grinned when Gerard's face fell, "You really thought I couldn't put two and two together? That I would continued to think that she just happened into town at the same time you did? You've underestimated me, Gerard."

She clicked her tongue and crossed her arms under her breasts, "You've seen my power so far. Imagine what I'll be capable of when I figure out how to unlock my full power—and I will."

"Are you threatening us, Jessie?" Chris asked carefully.

She smirked, "If you think this is threatening you, just wait until you really piss me off."

"You've got Stiles," Allison interrupted coldly, "Why don't you leave?"

Jessie didn't even bother to look at her, let alone answer her, "What I'm really getting at, Chris, is a deal—a truce if you wish to call it that."

"A truce?" Chris asked incredulous.

"I know Gerard's past negotiations," Jessie commented, "And Allison's a little past reason. But I've never really had an issue with you Chris. You've always stood by the code, so I think you'll appreciate the chance I'm giving you right now."

"And what chance is that?" Chris asked her slowly, not really grasping the fact that he was having truce negotiations with a sixteen year old girl.

"A chance to get out," Jessie answered flippantly, widening her stance, "I really don't care what happens to Daddy," she gestured to Gerard, "And I'm tempted not to care what happens to my old friend Ally either," She glared briefly at the girl in question. And Allison, for a moment, felt actual guilt for her actions—because they'd compiled to drive Jessie to the woman she was right now. "But for old times sake, I guess I can pretend. Mostly, I care what happens to Stiles and Scott and Isaac, and my brother and my family and the rest of my friends—including Derek," this was obviously meant for Allison, who was stuck on her pitiful revenge rampage against the alpha, "So here it is. Stay away from them. And I'll stay away from you."

"That's it?" Gerard laughed, amused that this teen girl thought she was any match for the hunters.

Jessie kept her eyes locked on Chris, knowing he was thinking carefully on it, "You have you're code. I have mine. They're actually pretty similar. And you know that Derek and his pack and Scott haven't done anything wrong. So you have no right to go after them. My code says that I have the right to go after anything that spills innocent blood. And the Beacon Hills pack is innocent by my standards. So if you or any of your friends hurt them, I won't hesitate to carry out my code."

Chris rested his chin on his clasped hands, like he was praying. Gerard looked at him with speculation and expectations. Allison watched tensely, itching for her crossbow. Chris finally spoke, "What are your terms?"

"What?" Allison snapped in shock, "Dad, you can't be serious."

"I'm extremely serious, Allison," Chris answered her sternly, looking back at his daughter, "This family's twisted sense of the code has already cost me my wife and sister and you your mother and aunt. I'm not gonna let it kill you too. And Jessie is right. Derek and his pack are innocent."

"So you know the truth?" Jessie asked, her cold demeanor slipping just barely.

Chris sighed and looked at her, nodding slightly, "What are your terms?"

"Derek, his pack, my friends, my family," Jessie listed, "They are under my protection, and so will anyone else who ever connects to me. So the terms are pretty simple. Stop hunting them. You can stop hunting altogether for all I care, I'm sure by now that's something you'd consider. And I won't stop you from stepping in if something truly evil starts hurting innocents. Even if I know them. But until that day, anyone you hurt that I care about or is innocent, gives me a free ride to come after you. It doesn't have to end up like that, but it extends to your other hunters—to Allison too. I know you don't control Gerard, but you're still Allison's father. So be a father and change her life for the better. Get her out of this life. And as long as we've come to an understanding, I don't think we'll have any problems in the future."

Chris sighed through his nose, "I think we've come to an understanding."

* * *

Baako groggily looked up through heavy lidded eyes when he heard the door open overhead and his sister's heavy footsteps stomp down the wooden stairs. He saw a blurry image of his little sister in front of him as she reached up to his switched off bonds and cut through them. He fell limply into her body and he noticed Stiles setting Erica free out of his peripheral vision.

Jessie lightly smacked her brother's face in concern, "Come on, Baako, you've got to get out of here."

Baako swallowed, standing on his own, "Jessie—are you okay?"

"That old man is no match for my skills," Jessie grinned, kissing his cheek, "Now get out of here, get her out of here to safety. And then come back."

Baako sighed, looking between Jessie and Erica, the latter girl sweating still and looking even more sad and scared than ever. She needed him more right now. He looked back down at his sister, "Be careful Jessie. I have a feeling this is about to get ugly."

Jessie nodded weakly, "I think it will. Which is why you need to go now."

* * *

Jessie pulled up in front of Stiles' house, "Do you want me to go in with you?"

Stiles sighed, looking up at his bedroom window, seeing the light on, "No—go check on your family."

"Stiles..." Jessie started, making the spazz look at her with concern, "About back there... and what's been happening with me..."

"Later," Stiles grasped on of her hands and shushed her soothingly, promising, "You can always talk to me later."

* * *

Peter and Derek led Scott and Isaac into the Hale house. Scott felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out, seeing Jessie's goofy face flashed back at him. He hurriedly answered the phone, "Jessie?" making Isaac look sharply at him.

"Scott," Jessie breathed, "Don't worry. Stiles is fine. I'm fine. Baako and Erica are okay. Allison kidnapped them."

"What?" Scott gasped, "Why would she do that?"

"Gerard got to her Scott," Jessie sniffed, "She shot at me. She didn't even care that Stiles was getting beaten down in the basement. But that's not the worst of it."

"What's worse? Jessie, what's wrong?" Scott asked. Isaac was standing next to him, getting angsty wanting to talk to her.

"I felt Jackson get shot," Jessie revealed, "I felt him dying. And I knew he'd stay human and die if I didn't do something. So I told him—somehow—to do whatever it takes to live and heal. And I've got an awful feeling that he'll be turning into something worse because of it."

"Whatever happens, it's not your fault, Jessie," Scott told her firmly, "Okay? I don't want to hear you blaming yourself for whatever might happen to Jackson just because you saved his life. You're a good person."

"I'm not so sure about that..." Jessie whispered.

"Do you want to talk to Isaac?" Scott offered.

He heard her sniff, "Please." So he handed the wolf his phone.

* * *

Jessie sat in front of the vets office in her car, happy when she heard Isaac's relieved voice over the phone breathe, "Jessie—thank god you're okay. You're okay, right?"

"Yeah," She sighed, "I'm okay, for the most part."

"Where are you?" He asked immediately once she said she was okay.

Jessie glanced at the closed sign on the front door, "In front of the vets office. I called to see where you guys were. I've got to see Jackson."

Isaac hesitated, some of the old jealousy creeping back.

"I'm responsible for him now, Isaac," Jessie assured him, "He's my friend. I've got to stop Gerard from getting his hands on him."

"No," Isaac denied, "We've got to stop Gerard from getting his hands on you. You're the only thing keeping Gerard from controlling the kanima and we know he'll stop at nothing until he gets what he wants."

"He can't touch me," Jessie told him confidently, "And now I've got Chris Argent in my back pocket."

"How'd you manage that?" he asked her.

"Easy," she answered, "I dangled his daughter's welfare and his precious code in front of him. That combined with my kick ass powers did the work for me. He won't hurt any of you but he can't control Gerard."

"We can handle this," Isaac tried to convince her.

Jessie sighed, feeling tears build up in her eyes, "I love you, Isaac. I didn't want the first time I say that again to be over the phone, but..."

"I love you too, Jessica," Isaac whispered back.

Jessie wiped under her eyes and sniffed lightly, putting the keys in the ignition of her car, "I'm going to see Jackson and then I'll call you, okay?"

"I'll see you soon," Isaac swore before hanging up.

* * *

Isaac handed the phone back to Scott with a sheepish thanks as Derek and Peter looked impatiently at him.

"Are you done with your little love fest?" Peter patronized, making Isaac glare at him.

"Jessie said that she felt Jackson get shot and let the kanima do whatever it needed to do to survive," Scott told them all, "And she has a feeling that its becoming something worse now because of it."

"Well this is going to help us figure out what that is," Peter answered the teen wolf, pulling out a brief case from a plank in the staircase.

"What is that, a book?" Derek asked.

"No. It's a lap top," Peter paused to give Derek a demeaning look. "What century are you living in?" He opened the briefcase and pulled out the lap top, "A few days after I got out of the coma, I transferred everything that we had. Fortunately, the Argents aren't the only ones that keep records."

Scott's phone rang again and he sighed, seeing his mom's name flash back at him, "Hey, mom, I can't talk right now."

"Oh, yeah?" Her voice answered, "Well, I'm so freaked out that I can barely talk either."

"What's wrong?" Scott asked, now concerned.

"Something—definitely something," Melissa sighed, "I don't know what, but I think you're gonna want to see this for yourself."

* * *

Jessie briskly walked out of her car toward the entrance of the library, having called Melissa to let her in to see Jackson. She had just got to the door when she saw Scott and Isaac headed to the same door. She gasped under her breath at the sight of Isaac. His eyes widened slightly when he noticed her and they immediately began to run for each other.

Jessie sighed out when they crashed against each other, his arms wrapped tightly around her, lifting her off her feet as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and dug her face into the crook of his neck. Salty tears leaked out of her eyes, staining his skin.

"You came back," Jessie breathed out, pulling her head back to look into his eyes.

"For you," he whispered, pressing his lips to hers feverishly.

"Guys," Scott interrupted their moment, "I hate to break this up but we've got to see Jackson."

Jessie shakily nodded and led them inside, not before latching her hand onto Isaac's, foolishly determined to never let it go again. They walked down the empty hallway in the back of the hospital until they saw Melissa pacing in front of a metal door. The woman noticed them and frantically waved them over, "Guys, you need to see this."

They followed her into the room and she walked in to pull back a curtain. On a metal table lied Jackson's half-covered body in a body bag, unzipped to his hips. Jessie gasped to herself and covered her mouth at the sight of a dead Jackson, and the sight of the gelatinous good enveloping his body in some sort of cocoon.

Isaac rubbed her shoulders as they walked around the table to get a closer look at the body.

"What's happening to him?" Scott asked worriedly.

"I thought that you were gonna tell me," Melissa whined, rubbing her hands together nervously, "Is it bad?"

They all looked at Jessie, who shrugged, "I don't know. I gave him free reign to do whatever he needed to do to live. I think I read something about this somewhere. He's... transforming."

"Into what?" Scott asked her.

"I don't know!" She squeaked frustratedly, "Something bigger and stronger—strong enough to heal itself from this."

Suddenly Jackson's body twitched in the body bag, making the group flinched back, "Whoa."

"Um, mom," Scott requested, "could you zip it up, please?"

Melissa gave her son an incredulous look before approaching the body and gingerly picking up the zipper, dragging it upward, "Okay, okay. Okay, here we go." The zipper caught when it got under his neck. She tried to tug on it but it was jammed or something. Suddenly kanima teeth jutted out of Jackson's mouth and his still comatose body hissed at them.

"Mom, zip!" Scott urged her.

"Okay, okay," she answered, "okay, okay," she tugged on the zipper, making it give way a little. But not enough as Jackson kept hissing and clamping his jaws.

"Zip! Zip, mom, zip!" Scott goaded her, "Zip!"

She finally zipped it closed over his face.

* * *

"They say he's in some kind of transparent casing made from the venom coming out of his claws," Derek told his Uncle with his phone held up to his ear.

"That sounds sufficiently terrifying," Peter quipped, working on his computer.

"They also say he's starting to move," Derek groaned.

"Okay, look, I think I found something," Peter clicked something on his computer, "Looks like what we've seen from Jackson is just the kanima's beta shape."

"Well, meaning what?" Derek asked him impatiently, "It can turn into something bigger?"

"Bigger and badder," Peter drawled.

Derek and Peter stared at the screen in shocked. "He's turning into that? That has wings."

"I can see that," Peter snapped lightly.

Derek held his phone back up to his ear, "Jessie, bring him to us."

"I don't know if we can," She answered him, "He's really moving now."

"Look, somebody actually made an animation of it," Peter noticed, "Maybe it's less frightening if we-" he clicked on the animation, but a loud screeching noise came from the computer as they saw how frightening this new form really would be. Peter swiftly shut his lap top, "Nope, not at all. We should probably meet them halfway."

Derek agreed, pulling the phone to his ear again, "Jessie, get him out of there now—go now."

* * *

Gerard smirked, walking into his granddaughter's room and turning on the lamp light. Allison squinted up at him, walking up slowly. "Wake up, sweetheart. It's time."

"But Jessie-" Allison started to protest but was silenced by her grandfather.

"If you think I'm going to let a creature like that stop me," Gerard croaked, "Then we should really get to know each other better."

* * *

Isaac and Scott carried Jackson's body in the body bag, trying to sneak it to the back parking lot where Jessie's car was parked. Scott tripped over his feet and dropped Jackson's head, causing Jessie and Isaac to stare at him, gaping.

Headlights flashed in their faces and all the teens froze, caught. A large SUV stopped in front of them. And they saw none other than Chris Argent stepping out of the vehicle.

Jessie stood by Isaac's side as the three of them stared in shock at the hunter.

"You're alone," Scott stated.

Chris averted his gaze downward, downtrodden, before looking to Scott to say, "More than you know."

"What do you want, Chris?" Jessie asked, "We have a deal."

"We don't have much in common," Chris started, "But at the moment, we have a common enemy."

Scott nodded, still a little struck, "That's why I'm trying to get him out of here."

Chris reluctantly shook his head, "I didn't mean Jackson."

"You want to go against your father?" Jessie asked in shock.

"Gerard has twisted his way into Allison's head, the same way he did with Kate," Chris admitted, "And I'm losing her. And I know you're losing her too."

Scott hesitated, "You're right. So can you trust me to fix this?" Chris thought on it, nodding. "Then can you let us go?"

Chris shook his head, "No."

"My car is faster."


	16. Cards Fall

The SUV pulled up to an old warehouse, stopping so that they could get out of the car. Isaac looked in at Jackson's body, "I think he stopped moving."

Jessie looked as well, "I'm not sure if that's a good thing."

"Where's Derek?" Chris asked gruffly.

Scott groaned inwardly when he noticed Derek galloping toward them on all fours, lifting his half-shifted body into a flip in mid-air before landing in a crouch, his eyes glowing red.

Peter—behind some pillars—rolled his eyes, commenting to himself, "Someone certainly enjoys making an entrance."

Derek stood up straight and glared at Chris, the latter speaking to him before Derek could get a word in, "I'm here for Jackson. Not you."

"Somehow, I don't find that very comforting," Derek snidely commented, "Get him inside."

Scott and Isaac dragged Jackson inside the warehouse. Scott looked around, "Where are they?"

Derek looked up form the body bag, "Who?"

"Peter and Lydia," Scott answered.

Derek didn't speak as he bent down to unzip the bag. Scott gaped at him, knowing what he wanted to do, "Whoa, hold on a second. You said you knew how to save him."

"We're past that," Derek answered.

"What about-" Scott tried.

But Derek's shouting interrupted him, "Think about it, Scott. Gerard wants the kanima. He'll do anything to get it so he can use Jackson to kill us all. Even if it means killing Jessie first," Isaac growled at this, protectively pulling Jessie to his side. "And shooting Jackson just set things in motion for him to become bigger and more powerful."

"You can't kill him!" Jessie yelled, "He's my responsibility, Derek. I can't let him die—I promised him I would be a better master than Matt."

"My father wouldn't let him live," Chris broke in, "He's turning rabid, he wouldn't let a rabid animal live."

"Of course not," Gerard's voice broke in as he strutted into the warehouse, "Anything that dangerous, that out of control—is better off dead."

The group all stared, Jessie inching away from Isaac's side to reach for the gun in the back of her jeans.

"Well done kids," Gerard smirked, "You brought Jackson to Derek to save him. You just didn't realize that you were also bringing Derek to us."

"Us?" Jessie asked, believing Allison would jump out at any moment.

But that's not who came out of the shadows. Metal squeaked as Matthias wheeled out beside Gerard, smirking at Jessie, "Hello Miss Hansen—or do you prefer Miss Sange?"

"Who is that, Jessie?" Isaac whispered in her ear.

"Alex and Emily's deranged father," Jessie muttered bitterly, "Do your kids know where you are Matthias?"

"My kids are not as clueless to the situation as you think, my dear," Matthias answered her, before calling out, "Alexander! Emily! We're in here!"

And out of the shadows walked Alex and Emily, looking guilty and ashamed as they faced Jessie, pulling four people behind them, with cloaks over their heads to hide their identity. But a sick feeling inside her stomach told Jessie exactly who they were.

"Alex? Emily?" She gasped at the sight of her friends, "What—How could you?"

"Jessie, listen to us," Emily begged, "We didn't want to hurt you-"

"You lied to me," Jessie cursed at them, "You've been lying to all of us this entire time! I know you're real name is Wolfgang. I knew your father was a hunter. But I was so stupid to think you weren't in on it."

"We did what we were told to do," Alex told her, pleadingly, "We never wanted this-"

"Shut up—just shut up!" She shouted, "I don't want to hear it."

Matthias rolled his eyes, "So much for gaining her trust, children. Now, don't be rude, introduce our guests."

Everyone watched on with baited breath as Emily and Alex pulled the hoods off each person's head.

Revealing Paula Hansen, Hunter Hansen, Bethany Hansen and Marissa Jude.

Jessie whimpered when her theory was proven true and Derek's eyes widened, his voice layered with shock and disgust, "Marissa?"

The girl in question cried with her hands bound, tears streaming down her face as her eyes were full of fear and confusion, "Derek—what's going on?"

"Your pet here is too trusting, Derek," Gerard cackled, "All we had to do was tell her you were in trouble and she followed us all too willingly. You shouldn't have kept her in the dark."

Derek growled threateningly, rage taking over him as his face transformed and his eyes glowed red and he roared at the old man threatening the well being of Marissa. But said girl whimpered at the sight of her boyfriend turning into a monster. Derek pleaded with her with his eyes, begging her not to fear him. But Marissa shook her head to herself, crying in fear and despair.

"Now, love," Matthias cooed, "You can either hand over control of Jackson-"

"Or hand over Derek," Gerard intervened.

"Or we can simply take matters into our own hands," Matthias lifted a gun, cocking it and pointing it toward Jessie's mother.

"Jessie," Bethany begged, her voice cracking with tears, "What's happening, Jessie? Who are these people?"

Jessie tried to stay strong in front of her sister, "They're bad people, Bethy. But it'll be okay—I'm gonna get you out of this."

Bethany nodded tearfully, trying to edge closer to their dad for comfort.

Jackson's body hissed as he rose up on his haunches, coming to crouch protectively in front of Jessie. "You can't have him Gerard," Jessie smirked, "Not as long as I'm alive."

"That's what we were afraid of, love," Matthias voiced as Gerard raised his gun and shot Jessie in the chest.

Her family screamed at the sight and sound as her body fell backwards onto the ground, Isaac catching her in his arms and staring down at her in shock. Scott and Derek came to kneel at her side, looking at her wound.

Jessie looked up at Isaac's devastated face, "...Isaac..."

"It'll be okay," Isaac whispered to her, "You're gonna be fine, I promise."

She nodded shakily, not believing it, but pretending for his sake.

Hunter—Jessie's father—struggled with his bonds, trying violently to get free and kill the man who just shot his daughter. But it was no use. Paula and Bethany both sobbed out, digging themselves into Hunter's side. Marissa whimpered into her still-bound hands at her friend laying on the ground, blood pouring out of her chest.

Isaac was suddenly overwhelmed with an unbearable rage as he passed Jessie into Derek's still-stunned arms and stood, shoulders shaking with angry breathes as his eyes glowed amber and his teeth turned into fangs, his nails slipping out into claws.

But Allison suddenly appeared, just as he started in for Gerard, stabbing him in the stomach, making him grunt. She ripped the blades from his gut and twisted her way around him to stab him again in the back, making his stutter and fall onto his knees.

Jackson, still just half-transformed, hissed at her as Scott shouted in surprise, "Allison! Stop!"

Jackson's claw grabbed her by the neck to hold her. Just then Peter sauntered into the room, shocking Chris Argent as well as Jessie, who was still fading in and out in Derek's arms. Isaac struggled to crawl over to her, already healing. Peter bent over Jessie's body and took her from Derek's arms, "Hello, Jessie."

"Peter," she gasped in pain.

"I know—I'm alive," He joked, "But right now we need  _you_  to live. You know what you have to do. Your anchor is how you can also trigger your power. So trigger it."

Jessie whimpered as Derek put pressure on her wound, "I can't..."

"Yes you can," Peter encouraged her, "What do you think about when you want to calm down? What makes you stronger?"

Jessie closed her eyes tightly, thinking of Isaac, and Scott, and Stiles, and Baako. About her family that needed her and her boyfriend she finally got back together with. And the answers she still needed. She felt adrenaline flood through her body as they hear a little clink of metal under her. Peter reached down and pulled up the bullet that shot her. It had been pushed out. Derek fingered the hole in her shirt, feeling the smooth skin patching itself up. Jessie panted at the excursion and her eyes shot open, glowing bright cobalt blue.

Isaac laughed out in relief, leaning down to smash his lips against hers before helping her stand up. Jessie panted lightly, looking at her family with a small reassuring smile. But they just looked at her shocked.

Jessie reluctantly turned her attention to Jackson holding Allison, "Jackson."

He heard the unspoken command in her voice and let Allison's neck go, swiftly slicing into the back of her neck, paralyzing her. Jessie hummed and looked toward Gerard, "Give him what he wants."

"So you know," Gerard commented as Jackson grabbed Derek to drag him over to Gerard.

"What are you doing?" Derek asked with a demand in his voice.

"He's dying," Isaac revealed, suddenly noticing the putrid odor coming from the old man.

"Scott smelled it at the hospital when you threatened Melissa," Jessie revealed, still a little weak from just healing herself.

"I am," Gerard agreed, "I have been for a while now. Unfortunately, science doesn't have a cure for cancer yet. But the supernatural does."

"You monster," Chris accused his father, disgusted.

"Not yet," Gerard quipped, rolling up his sleeve.

"Don't do this!" Derek yelled as Jackson held his neck next to Gerard's outstretched arm.

"We have to," Scott reluctantly told him.

"He won't ever stop, unless we do," Jessie sighed

Jackson forced Derek's jaws wide open, letting Gerard place his arm in his mouth, and then forced his jaw to snap, biting deeply into the hunter's flesh. Gerard barely flinched, breathing deeply at the sensation running through him. He held up his arm in victory as Jackson dropped Derek to the ground.

But everyone's mouths dropped open in shock when Gerard's wounds started bleeding black goo profusely.

"Gerard," Matthias breathed.

Gerard looked down at his wound, seeing the black blood, "What? What is this?" he looked accusingly at Jessie and Scott, "What did you do?"

Derek looked up at them as they stood together and Isaac stood behind her. Scott met Derek's gaze, "Everyone said Gerard always had a plan. We had a plan too."

"No," Gerard gasped, realizing what was done as he pulled his pill carrier out of his pocket, opening the lid, "No." He dropped the plastic tablets into his hand. He raised them up in his fist, crushing the pills into black dust, "Mountain ash!"

Black good started dripping out of his nose and eyes and the side of his mouth. Suddenly it turned into vomit that spouted out of his mouth like a broken fire hydrant. He stared unseeingly at the sky before collapsing to the ground face first, immobile now.

Jessie didn't waste much time before yanking her gun out of the back of her jeans and pointing it toward Matthias, Emily and Alex, "Untie them. Now!"

Emily set to work untying them all while Alex walked around them with his hands outstretched, "Please, Jessie, it wasn't supposed to be like this."

"No," she muttered bitterly, "You were supposed to use me. Brainwash me into trusting you and turn me against my friends so I'd be on your side—is that it?"

"That's how it started but—" Alex started.

Emily intervened as she finally untied Marissa last, "We really are your friends, Jessie. That wasn't a lie."

Jessie scoffed, still holding up the gun, "Please. You lied to me. You betrayed me. So why give it up now? Why expose yourselves now?"

"Because I couldn't stand it anymore!" Alex shouted, his face flushing red and his eyes filling with tears, "I never wanted this life or this mission—I hate it. I couldn't stand lying to you anymore!"

"Why?" Jessie asked, "Why all of the sudden you grow a conscious and reveal yourself?"

"Because I fell in love with you!" Alex shouted out of the blue.

Everyone looked between Jessie's shocked face and Alex's sad one. Even Emily looked surprised. She thought that their father was just trying to taunt Alex, he didn't think his accusations about having feelings for Jessie were founded.

"I don't believe you," Jessie whispered just as they all heard the squealing of tires as Stiles sped into the warehouse in his jeep with Lydia in the back seat.

They both clamored out of the car and Lydia ran up to a still half-transformed Jackson, "Jackson! Jackson." She tearfully held up the key he'd been asking for since they'd broken up.

Jackson stared at it, unseeingly, a memory making it's way to the surface of when he'd first given it to her. They were in bed, just months after being together. It was supposed to be a casual fling between the two hottest people in school. Lydia had joked about being made a more accessible late-night booty call. Jackson thought she could use it any time of day. His reptilian features faded away as he came back to Jackson the human, tired and disoriented. But he stepped back from Lydia, giving Derek a look and a small nod.

Peter lept up behind him just as Derek's eyes flashed and he flashed in front of him, both wolves digging their claws into his chest and back. Jackson choked in pain as they lifted him up by his wounds. Jessie bent over, crying out and holding her stomach as the bond let her feel the pain Jackson was going through. Isaac pulled her into his arms from behind and kissed her temple to try and calm her down. She whimpered in pain along with Lydia as Derek and Peter let Jackson fall onto his feet and stumble. They stepped away as Lydia took Jackson's shoulders in her hands as he stuttered, "Do you—do you still-"

Lydia nodded tearfully, "I do. I do still love you." She let him lay down on the ground, still holding him in her arms and murmuring to him, "I do, I do still love you. I do. I do. I do still love you, I do."

His head fell limply on her shoulder as she sobbed over him, laying his now limp body on the ground as his eyes finally closed.

Isaac pulled Jessie up to stand straight and she laid her head on his shoulder as he rubbed up and down her arms. Scott crouched by Allison's still paralyzed body and took her hand.

Allison glanced around with the slight feeling she had in her neck and noticed Gerard's body was gone, "Where's Gerard?"

"He can't be far," Chris assured her while Sties excused himself to go back to his jeep.

Lydia laid her head on Jackson's chest, her hand laying on his wounds. Jessie felt tears still falling down her face at the heart wrenching sight. She felt guilt wash over her as what just happened finally sunk in. She failed as a master to Jackson.

He was dead.

* * *

"I'm sorry," Allison whispered as she and Scott sat in her bedroom.

"You don't have to say you're sorry," Scott told her.

She nodded, "I do. I have to for what I did and what I said. For everything," she heaved a deep sigh, "Especially for what I have to do now."

"It's okay," He whispered to her, still holding onto her hand.

She shook her head, "No, it's not."

"It is," he denied softly.

"Scott, I'm trying to break up with you," she said in disbelief, appalled that it came to this point.

"I know," He assured her, "And it's okay."

"How is that okay?" She asked with baited breath, surprised he was being so calm about all this.

He shrugged, "Because I can wait."

"I can't make you wait for me," she shook her head tearfully, "I'm not going to do that."

"You don't have to," he said simply, "Because I know we're gonna be together."

Allison looked into his eyes uncomfortably, "There's no such thing as fate."

He smirked, "There's no such thing as werewolves."

She grimaced at the statement. They both leaned in and shared their last kiss...

* * *

After a long conversation with her family, with lots of explanations, Jessie and Isaac laid together in her bed after the final battle they'd just fought in. Isaac laid on his back with Jessie on her side next to him, her head resting on his chest, listening to his heart beat.

Isaac trailed his fingertips up the back of her bare arms, "I can't believe it's over."

Jessie sighed, "I can't believe he's gone."

"Jessie, it wasn't your fault," Isaac told her, "Gerard is the one who had him shot. You did all you could to save him, but it wasn't enough."

"It doesn't feel that way to me," Jessie muttered, her head in the crook of his neck, "I just want things to go back to normal. That doesn't feel possible now."

"I don't think we can go back to how it was before," Isaac trailed off.

Jessie sighed and lifted herself to rest on her elbow so she could look at him. She gave him a knowing look, "You're thinking about what Alex said."

Isaac reluctantly looked at her and nodded, "He loves you too."

"But it doesn't matter," She assured him, "Because I love you."

"I love you too," Isaac told her softly, making her smile.

She reached up and brushed his cheek with her hand, "I'm glad you came back."

"I never should have considered leaving," Isaac sighed, hating himself for even thinking about leaving Jessie behind.

She swiftly swung her leg over his lap, sitting on him, "That doesn't matter now that you're staying."

Isaac propped his body on the back of his elbows, smiling up at her playfully, "We've got some catching up to do."

She grinned and leaned down to press her lips to his.

* * *

"So..." Marissa trailed off, sitting on her couch with Derek staring at her urgently, "You're a werewolf. Your whole family were werewolves. Peter turned Scott. You killed Peter and became an Alpha and turned Jessie's boyfriend. Peter came back to life. That boy... Jackson turned into that... thing. And that man who captured us..."

"He's taken care of," Derek assured her, "He won't be an Alpha, thanks to Scott."

Marissa nodded, fighting overwhelming tears under her eyes as she wrung her hands in her lap, "What now?"

"That's up to you," Derek told her gently, "Whatever you want. If you never want to see me again... I'll go."

She sniffed, looking over at him tearfully, "Derek... I don't know if I can handle this."

Derek sighed, he was afraid of that kind of answer. He stood up and leaned down to kiss her forehead, "Then I'll go."

* * *

The next afternoon Isaac joined Peter and Derek at the Hale house. Isaac stared at the symbol on the door in confusion.

"You haven't told him everything yet, have you?" Peter drawled to Derek, making Isaac look at them.

"What do you mean?"

Derek rolled his eyes as Peter leaned against a tree, "Why do you think Derek was in such a hurry to build his pack? So eager to strengthen his power and his number? When there's a new Alpha, people take notice."

"People like who?" Isaac asked, "What is this?" he gestured to the door, "What does this mean?"

"It's their symbol," Derek answered, "And it means they're coming."

"Who?" Isaac asked him impatiently, not liking being out of the loop.

"Alphas," Derek stated.

Isaac noticed the plurality of the statement, "More than one?"

"A pack of them," Derek elaborated.

"An Alpha pack," Peter cut back in, "And they're not coming. They're already here."

* * *

Jessie hummed lightly in the back seat of Stiles jeep as they pulled up on the lacrosse field mid-afternoon. "So you really think she's gonna come back to you?"

"Yeah, I know she is," Scott answered Stiles confidently, "What about you and Lydia?"

"Ah," Stiles started, opening the back of his jeep for him and Scott to pull out the gear, "Well, the 10-year plan for making Lydia fall in love with me may have to stretch to 15, but the plan is definitely still in motion."

Jessie hopped up on the hood of the jeep as Scott laughed, "Why don't you just ask her out?"

"Yeah, okay," Stiles said sarcastically.

"Hey, you know what I just realized?" Scott paused, "I'm right back where I started."

"What do you mean?" Stiles asked, both he and Jessie looking at Scott with confusion in their features.

"I mean no lacrosse, no popularity, no girlfriend. Nothing," Scott listed out, shrugging.

"Dude, you still got me," Stiles protested.

"I had you before," Scott pointed out gently, not wanting to hurt Stiles' feelings.

"Yeah," Stiles admitted, "And you still got me. Okay? It's a life fulfilled."

Scott smirked, "Very."

Stiles pointed at Jessie, "And you got Jessie too. Though I'm sure we'll be seeing less of her now that she's shaking up with Isaac again," he teased her.

She gave him a weak smile. Scott and Stiles then noticed that she was a bit off. "Jessie, whats up?" Scott said, coming to stand next to her seat.

She sighed, "It's just... everything that's happened—I'm not the same anymore."

"None of us are," Stiles pointed out, shrugging.

"Yeah, I guess," Jessie said quietly, "It's just... I'm not sure I like who I am now."

"What are you talking about?" Scott took one of her hands in his.

"Holding a gun on people—Matt, Matthias. Threatening the Argents and all the fighting. When I was holding that gun on Matt, a little part of me thought that if I just pulled the trigger, then it would just be over. That if he wasn't around anymore, it would be okay. And it would be so easy—to just pull the trigger," She paused to swallow the lump that grew in her throat, "And I wanted to."

"That doesn't make you a bad person," Scott told her, squeezing her hand, "The point is that you didn't shoot him. You didn't kill him because you're not a murderer. And anything you've ever done has been done to protect us or your family. You're not a monster."

"What if I am?" She asked, tears lodging in her throat, "What if I find out that I'm half-monster and I let it loose? What if I'm slowly losing control of myself and I start hurting people?"

"Hey, look at me," Scott commanded softly, holding her face with his other hand, "You're not some monster, Jessie. You're one of the bravest most self-sacrificing person I've ever known. And the last person who will become a monster. You hear me?"

A tear fell from her eye as she nodded to him, "Yeah..."

"Good," Scott smiled, kissing her cheek, "Now you get to keep score."

She smiled softly as Scott jumped into the goal opposite of Stiles. Stiles gathered a ball in his lacrosse stick, warning Scott, "Now remember, no wolf powers."

Scott grinned, "Got it."

"No, I mean it," He reiterated, "No super fast reflexes, no super eyesight, no hearing—none of that crap, okay?"

Scott rolled his eyes, "Okay. Come on."

"You promise?" Stiles kept insisting.

"Would you just take the shot already?" Scott yelled.

Stiles huffed, picking the stick up with the ball in it. And he took the shot.

Stiles exclamation of, "I said no wolf powers!" could barely be heard by Jessie because she was laughing too hard.


End file.
